Turnover in oil and gas, manufacturing, mining and electricity supply, December 2007

2007 was a good year for turnover in Norwegian manufacturing. A substantial part of this increase was due to high prices in most industrial groupings, particularly in the first half of the year. According to the producer price index , the industrial groupings experienced an increase in prices of 5.6 per cent last year. The other factor behind this development is an increase in production volumes, which increased by 4.1 per cent in 2007 according to the index of production .

Strongest growth for intermediate goods

With an increase of 11.9 per cent, intermediate goods were the major contributor to the rise in turnover in 2007. Within this group, the chemical industry had the strongest growth. Basic chemicals had an increase in turnover of 10.9 per cent, mainly due to an increase in turnover in the domestic market of 36.2 per cent. Basic metals rose by 16.4 per cent, partly due to a 17.4 increase for non-ferrous metals. Despite a decline in international metal prices over the last months, the price level in 2007 was so high that the contribution to the final result was very strong. According to seasonally adjusted figures this industrial grouping experienced an increase of 1.0 per cent in turnover from the third to the fourth quarter of 2007. Basic chemicals had the strongest growth with an increase of 3.2 per cent. The turnover of basic chemicals in the domestic market rose by 9.0 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Capital goods up 10.8 per cent in 2007

Turnover within oil platforms and transport equipment contributed strongly to the increase in turnover of capital goods in 2007. Oil platforms rose by 10.4 per cent and transport by 15.9 per cent, of which the domestic market had a growth in turnover of 27.6 per cent. The results were also positive for machinery and equipment n.e.c, which ended up with a total increase of 6.9 per cent and a rise in the export market of 22.3 per cent. The same tendency was seen for electrical and optical equipment, which had an increase of 11.9 per cent in total and 16.8 per cent in the export market.

Consumer goods had the lowest growth turnover in 2007. With an increase of 3.9 per cent, the domestic market rose by 3.4 per cent and the export marked rose by 5.3 per cent.

Development in fourth quarter 2007

Seasonally adjusted figures showed that intermediate goods had an increase in turnover of 1.0 per cent in the fourth quarter, while capital goods showed a decrease of 0.7 per cent in the same period. This was mainly due to lower demand in the domestic market, which contributed to a decline in turnover of 4.1 per cent. Seasonally adjusted figures showed that consumer goods remained unchanged from the third to the fourth quarter, however the export market showed a positive development and rose by 4.8 per cent.