It is thought that the order books for manufacturing companies in the UK are at their fullest for 30 years. Research has been conducted by the Confederation of British Industry, which is the UKâs premier business organisation.
The study that has been carried out has revealed that the overall number of orders have reached their highest levels since 1988. This increase in exports seems to have been a result of firms working with chemicals and electronics and seeing a larger demand for their goods in markets overseas.
According to the research conducted by the Confederation of the British Industry, nearly 400 firms taking part in the research reported that their export orders were at a higher level than usual. Tis increase in export orders has then resulted in a rounded balance of +20 between those who are expecting improvement, and those predicting a decline. This score is the strongest one to be recorded since June 1995.
A number of other manufacturing sectors aside from electronics have also seen an increase in export levels. These sectors include tobacco, pharmaceuticals and plastics. However, the research has also shown that some manufactures could be running close to capacity, and could possible slip backwards in time, with stocks running at +2pc, which is significantly below the +13pc average.
Manufacturers have also seen a lowering in output expectations, measuring at +13pc, which is a three-month low and down from +19 in October. However, industry experts feel that the reports on order book levels are often counterintuitive, lagging behind performance as opposed to leading it, an explanation of the differences between output expectations and orders.
The survey that has been carried out shows that the strong order levels for November contradict the Quarterly Industrial Trends Survey that is released by the Confederation of the British Industry, released in October. The Quarterly Trends survey implied that businesses were getting less optimistic, however this is a sentiment that is only recorded quarterly.
