Bank of France reports industrial output continued to grow in most sectors in
BANK OF FRANCE, MONTHLY BUSINESS SURVEY, 17/2/97.
France in January 1997
In January, according to the business leaders surveyed by the Banque de France,
continued to grow in most sectors. Activity was especially buoyant in the
industrial output
intermediate goods and consumer goods sectors. The food processing sector was alone in recording a
contraction in activity.
The improved.
capacity utilization rate
strengthened further. French products were very competitive on
Overall demand
foreign markets and this led to an increase in export orders. Export sales increased in the United
Kingdom, Italy and Germany, while demand remained firm in the United States and Asia. On the
domestic market, inter-industry demand was strong, even though the orders received came with very
short delivery times in most cases.
are now near to normal levels. They are still considered to be low in the
Order books
food-processing and automobile industries, but are deemed to be satisfactory in the capital goods and
consumer goods sectors. are gradually returning to normal overall,
Inventories of finished products
but they still exceed the desired levels in the consumer goods, food-processing and intermediate
goods sectors.
The outlook for is distinctly brighter. Activity should increase in
the coming months
all sectors, with marked improvements in the intermediate goods and food-processing sectors.
Commodity prices were stable overall, while finished product prices declined
slightly. This fall stemmed mainly from substantial price cuts in the automobile industry, while
prices generally held up in the other sectors.
Investment plans for 1997 appear to be less ambitious on the whole compared with
capital spending plans at the same period in 1996. Nevertheless, the business leaders polled in
January were more confident about future activity than they were a few months earlier. This could
mean that previously postponed investment plans may be implemented in the coming months.
However, plans for increasing output capacity remained few and far between, owing to the spare
capacity currently available, and depend on stronger growth in demand.
in January were up markedly over December 1996, and only slightly
Retail sales
down on the exceptionally high level recorded a year earlier.
Employment levels remained stable in nearly all industrial sectors. They showed
only a slight change in the services and retail sectors, but there were further falls in the building
industry.