Slight Improvements seen for Manufacturing Sector

It looks like the manufacturing industry is slowly easing on its activities, based on a private survey conducted recently.

The performance index for Australian Industry Group (AIG) and PriceWaterhouseCoopers, for example, rose to 4.8 points to 47.2 in June, while new orders remained at 5.6 points to 46.2.

Employment opportunities also rose to 5.8 points to 48.8.

Additionally, industries that have done well over the four-month period come from the clothing and footwear sectors, printing and publishing, paper industry, transport equipment; and machinery and equipment.

These improvements, however, still fall short of the 50-point level that draws the line between contraction and expansion.

The chief executive of AIG, in fact, also says that there are still some concerns over how the carbon tax will impact the industry, considering that it will be in effect this July.

Following other countries, Australia has also adapted the new law, which serves to impose carbon emissions tax among all sectors. The biggest contributors to pollution, which may come from the manufacturing industry, are required to pay $23 per tonne of carbon dioxide emitted.

The value, they say, is more than the amount of paid by other companies in the European Union.