The Nevi’s so-called Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 48.7 last month, from 49.6 in January. A level of 50 or more indicates growth, below that contraction. The gauge fell below 50 for the first time in two years in September, implying a contraction in industrial activity. It is not the same as industrial production. It still increased last month, albeit less than in January. Employment also continued to grow, albeit at its slowest pace in 28 months.
Commenting on the figures, ABN AMRO sector economist Albert Jan Swart indicates that Dutch industry is having a quack winter. “Despite the recent drop in gas prices, they’re still about three times as low as they were two years ago,” he says. ‘As a result, it is still difficult for European industry, which depends mainly on natural gas, to compete with coal-intensive factories in China and India, for example. Because the prices of other energy sources such as coal have also decreased”.
Swart points out that gas consumption by Dutch industry is not yet on the rise, despite the fact that European wholesale natural gas prices have fallen to pre-Russian invasion levels in Ukraine. “So it looks like heavy industry is still severely limiting production.”