Manufacturing Less Buoyant

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31121, 26 July 1966, Page 18

Manufacturing Less Buoyant

Manufacturing business in Canterbury was less buoyant in the quarter ended June 30 than it has been for some time, says the secretary of the Canterbury Manufacturing Association (Mr R. T. Alston) reporting on a survey of 101 firms conducted bv the association.

In the survey, business conditions during the three months were compared with those in the same period in 1965.

| "Sales in all the firms surveyed rose by 4} per cent, while in the apparel group (clothing and footwear) the increase was a mere 1 per cent," says Mr Alston. “There is no lift in forward orders, so the immediate prospect is not particularly bright.” All firms reported “no change” in the number of forward orders.

"A drop of 4 per cent in the number of people employed in the apparel industry is quite disturbing,” he says. Engineering firms, employees were up by 5 per cent, while there was an over-all increase of 2 per cent According to the survey, there was a change in the amount of overtime worked only in the engineering industry where an increase of 2i per cent was recorded. Forty-four of the firms reported a slower payment of accounts while 52 found the rate unchanged. Only four reported prompter payment. In the apparel group, stocks of finished goods rose by 2 per cent and there was a general rise of lj per cent Engineering firms reported no change, according to the survey.