{"id":30541,"date":"2026-03-12T14:59:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T14:59:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/30541\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T14:59:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T14:59:40","slug":"south-africas-year-on-year-manufacturing-production-slipped-0-7-improving-from-the-previous-1-4-decline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/30541\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s year-on-year manufacturing production slipped 0.7%, improving from the previous 1.4% decline"},"content":{"rendered":"South Africa\u2019s manufacturing production index fell by 0.7% year on year in January.\n\nThis compares with a year-on-year fall of 1.4% in the previous period.\n\n<h3>Manufacturing Momentum Improving<\/h3>\nThe latest manufacturing data for January, while still showing a year-on-year contraction at -0.7%, is significantly better than the -1.4% we were anticipating. This suggests the industrial sector&#8217;s decline may be bottoming out, a notable shift from the deep struggles we witnessed throughout 2025. This positive surprise offers a window for tactical derivative plays.\n\nThis data is the first potential green shoot after a difficult 2025, a year defined by severe power cuts and stubbornly high borrowing costs that crippled production. Given the slight but noticeable improvement in the energy supply we&#8217;ve seen since late last year, this manufacturing number could be the first sign of a recovery. We believe the market may be underpricing this potential turnaround.\n\nFor currency traders, this could signal short-term strength for the Rand. We are looking at buying ZAR call options against the dollar, positioning for a move stronger than the 18.50 level we have seen recently. This mirrors the currency\u2019s reaction in mid-2025 when better-than-expected current account data caused a similar, brief rally.\n\nOn the equity side, this news could lift sentiment for the JSE Top 40 Index, particularly for industrial and manufacturing-linked stocks. Buying call options on the ALSI index for the next few weeks could capture a potential relief rally. We saw a similar sector-specific boost in the final quarter of 2025 when global commodity prices showed a temporary recovery.\n\n<h3>Risks And Trade Horizon<\/h3>\nHowever, we must temper this optimism with a dose of reality, as this is just one data point. With unemployment figures from late 2025 still stuck above 32% and the South African Reserve Bank holding rates firm to combat inflation that remains near 5%, any long-term recovery is far from certain. Therefore, any positions taken should be tactical and short-dated.\n\n<b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/trade-now\/\">Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.vtmarkets.com\/login\">start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b>\n<p>\r\n\r\n<p><strong>Start trading now &#8211; Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/trade-now\/\">here<\/a> to create your real VT Markets account <\/strong> <\/p>\r\n<!-- \/wp:post-content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Africa\u2019s manufacturing production index declined 0.7% year-on-year in January, improving from December\u2019s 1.4% drop.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30541\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}