September 2020: Negative trend of the past months stopped
After the European Foundry Sentiment Indicator (FISI) has shown a negative sign in each of the past 6 months, this trend stopped in September. However, the psychologically important change of direction does not indicate an economic turnaround. The FISI remains at 99.2 points.
The business confidence indicator (BCI), on the other hand, continues to rise, rising from ‑1.3 to ‑1.2 points. This slight increase shows that the catch-up process is slowing down compared to the previous months. New record numbers of Covid-19 cases are unsettling the industry on its way to recovery.
The FISI – European Foundry Industry Sentiment Indicator – is the earliest available composite indicator providing information on the European foundry industry performance. It is published by the European Foundry Association (CAEF) every month and is based on survey responses of the European foundry industry. The CAEF members are asked to give their assessment of the current business situation in the foundry sector and their expectations for the next six months.
The BCI – Business Climate Indicator – is an indicator published by the European Commission. The BCI evaluates development conditions of the manufacturing sector in the euro area every month and uses five balances of opinion from industry survey: production trends, order books, export order books, stocks and production expectations.
CAEF Contact:
Tillman van de Sand
Secretary Commission for Economics & Statistics
phone: +49 211 68 71 — 301
mail: tillman.vandesand@caef.eu