The latest Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association (CMA) Survey of Business Conditions, completed during October 2007, shows total sales in September 2007 decreased 9.5 percent on September 2006. Export sales dropped by 17.5 percent while domestic sales decreased 0.6 percent.

Manufacturers represented in the survey reported the following constraints: 8 percent production; 15 percent skilled staff; and 77 percent markets. These results are down from August 2007, where skilled staff was reported as 18 percent of a constraint and the markets were 82 percent.

The decrease in skilled staff constraints can also be seen in staff numbers, as staff numbers for September increased by just over 3.5 percent.

Net confidence among elaborate transformed manufacturers (who are involved in high end value manufacturing) in the Canterbury region improved over the October month, up from the -18 result reported last month to +8. However, we expect the increasing cost of raw materials and wages to impact on net confidence over the November month.