JOHANNESBURG, 11 AUGUST 2020 – The national lockdown occasioned by COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on manufacturing output, as reflected by negative growth rates in the volume of manufacturing production data released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA), the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) said today.
SEIFSA Chief Economist Dr Michael Ade said the data, which reflects a deceleration by -16.3% in June 2020 compared with June 2019, is worrisome for local companies in both the Metals and Engineering cluster of industries as well as the broader manufacturing sector, especially given the need for key labour-intensive sub-industries to remain resilient in order to sustain and create jobs.