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Value of manufacturers' orders-on-hand in April
The value of manufacturers' orders-on-hand for local production in April 1996 decreased by 5% over a year earlier, according to the provisional results of a monthly survey released today (Friday) by the Census and Statistics Department.
Comparing. April 1996 with April 1995, a significant increase in the value of orders was registered in the fabricated metal products industry (+34%).
On the other hand, decreases in the value of orders were recorded in the plastic products industry (-12%), the textiles industry (-12%), the printing and publishing industry (-9%), the electronic products industry (-5%), the wearing apparel industry (- 4%) and the electrical products industry (-1%).
Compared with March 1996, and bearing in mind this comparison may be affected by seasonal factors, the value of manufacturers' orders-on-hand in April 1996 increased by 1%.
The monthly survey of orders-on-hand covers a sample of some 300 manufacturing firms engaging 50 or more workers.
Manufacturers' orders-on-hand refer to orders and parts of orders received earlier by manufacturers for local production which remain unfilled as at the end of the reference month.
Orders received by traders not engaged in production are included if such orders are further placed to manufacturers for production locally. However, orders placed to manufacturing firms for production in China and other places outside Hong Kong are not included in this series of orders-on-hand statistics.
A spokesman of the department said caution should be exercised in interpreting the manufacturers' orders-on-hand figures in a single month. The trend movement of the series as displayed over a wider span of time points should be looked at.
The survey report for April 1996 is now on sale at $7 a copy at the Government Publications Centre, Queensway Government Offices, Low Block, ground floor, Queensway, and at the Census and Statistics Department Publications Unit, 19th Floor, Wanchai Tower, 12 Harbour Road, Wan Chai.
Enquiries about the survey results may be made to the Industrial Production Statistics Section of the department on 2805 6441.