According to the statistics released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) on January 12, the capacity utilization rate in Turkey's manufacture of basic metals in December was 70.7 percent, mainly due to lack of demand in the local and export markets, compared to a capacity utilization rate of 65.2 percent in December 2008 and 71.7 percent in November 2009.
Meanwhile, the capacity utilization rate in the country's manufacture of fabricated metal products in December was 69.2 percent, up from 64.1 percent recorded in December 2008 and up from 66.3 percent in November 2009.
In December 2009, the output of the domestic basic metal industry increased by 1.7 percent, raw material prices in the industry were up 0.6 percent, while sale prices decreased by 0.9 percent, all compared to the previous month.
As regards the manufacture of fabricated metal products, in December the output slightly increased by 0.9 percent, raw material prices increased by 0.6 percent and sale prices remained unchanged, all compared to November 2009.
On the other hand, the output in the manufacture of basic metals in Turkey is forecast to decrease by 0.1 percent in January, while sale prices are expected to decline by 0.1 percent in the industry in the same month, both compared to December. Raw material prices for the manufacture of basic metals are foreseen to increase by 0.7 percent month on month in January.