South Africa’s August manufacturing

output up 1.5 percent y/y

South Africa’s manufacturing output rose by a surprise 1.5 percent year-on-year in August after contracting by 1.1 percent in July, Statistics South Africa said on Tuesday.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast manufacturing volumes would contract by 0.05 percent year-on-year in August.

Factory production on a month-on-month basis grew by 0.3 percent, and was up 1.3 percent in the three months to August compared with the previous three months.