The outlook is mixed for the secondary sector in the third quarter of 2023, according to the latest HCP survey of bosses.
Business leaders in the manufacturing and environmental industries expect production to be stable, those in the mining, energy and construction sectors expect an increase.
Mixed developments expected for the secondary sector in the third quarter of 2023. This is what emerges from the results of the latest economic surveys carried out by the High Commission for Planning (HCP) among companies operating in the sectors of manufacturing industries , extraction, energy, environment and construction.
Thus, notes the HCP, in the third quarter of 2023, companies in the manufacturing industry predict stability in their production.
These forecasts would be based, on the one hand, on an expected increase in the activity of the metallurgy and food industry and, on the other hand, on a decline in that of the manufacture of other non-metallic mineral products, the chemical industry and the automobile industry . For employment, the manufacturers surveyed generally expect stability in the number of employees employed.
Concerning the extractive industry, companies in the sector are counting on an increase in their production in the third quarter of 2023, thanks in particular to an expected increase in the production of phosphates .. As for the number of employees, the bosses of this sector anticipate a contraction.
The same trend is expected for energy production which would experience an improvement attributable to the growth in the production and distribution of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning. Employment in this sector would, for its part, experience stability in numbers.
With regard to the environmental industry, the company managers surveyed anticipate stability in production, particularly in water collection, treatment and distribution activities, and stability in the number of employees employed.
With regard to the construction sector, the HCP survey reports expectations which globally expect an increase in activity in the third quarter of 2023.
This development would come, on the one hand, from the increase in activity expected in civil engineering and, on the other hand, the expected stagnation of activity in the building construction sector. This development in the construction sector would be accompanied by stability in the number of employees, notes the HCP.
The secondary sector generally well oriented in the 2nd quarter
In the second quarter of 2023, most activities in the secondary sector would have been well oriented. Thus, notes the HCP, the production of the manufacturing industry would have experienced an increase, the result of an increase in production in the branches of the food industry, the manufacture of metal products, with the exception of machinery and equipment and the manufacture of electrical equipment, and a decline in production in the branches of the automobile industry and the paper and cardboard industry.
For the sector’s order books, they are considered to be at a normal level by business leaders. Employment, meanwhile, would have experienced stability. Overall, the production capacity utilization rate (TUC) in the manufacturing industry would have stood at 76%.
The HCP survey also notes that in the second quarter of 2023, 31% of companies in the manufacturing industry would have encountered difficulties in supplying raw materials, mainly those of foreign origin.
It also indicates that stocks of raw materials during this quarter would be at a normal level and cash flow would have been considered difficult according to 23% of bosses. By branch, this proportion would have reached nearly 27% in food industries.
Extractive industry production would also have improved, driven by the increase in phosphate production. The selling prices of products in this sector would have fallen and employment would have fallen. energy industry
production was no exception to the rule.
It would, in fact, have improved thanks in particular to the increase in the production and distribution of electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning. For order books, they would have been at a normal level. Employment, for its part, would have increased.
On the other hand, the production of the environmental industry would have experienced stability, due to stagnation in the activity of water capture, treatment and distribution. For order books in this sector, they would have settled at a normal level and employment would have stabilized.
The construction sector is stagnating
Activity in the construction sector should have been stable in the second quarter of 2023. This development is due, on the one hand, to the good performance of activity in civil engineering and in the branch of specialized construction work and, on the other hand, to stability in the building construction industry.
Order books in construction would have been at a normal level and employment would have stabilized. Under these conditions, the production capacity utilization rate in the construction sector would have stood at 69%.
The HCP’s business surveys also indicate that in the second quarter, 29% of construction companies would have encountered difficulties in the supply of raw materials and cash flow would have been considered difficult by 41% of business leaders.