Manufacturing falls by 15 percent

Pretoria - The estimated manufacturing production for August 2009 is 15 percent lower than in August 2008, Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) reported on Thursday.

The decrease was felt in all ten manufacturing divisions.

It was attributed to the decreases in the divisions of basic iron and steel, non-ferrous metal products, metal products and machinery, petroleum, chemical products, rubber and plastic products and motor vehicles, parts and accessories and other transport equipment.

In July 2009, manufacturing production fell by 13.7 percent, compared with July 2008.