British manufacturing order growth during three months to January hit the highest since April 2011, survey data from the Confederation of British Industry showed Tuesday.
Moreover, manufacturers are optimistic about continued expansion in the next quarter and they are increasingly confident in the recovery.
The balance for new domestic orders came in at 11 percent, the strongest since 2011, but the new export orders balance fell to zero, the Industrial Trends Survey showed. About 38 percent of firms reported a rise in output volumes and 20 percent a decline, giving a balance of +18 percent.
Further, around 38 percent of manufacturers expect total new orders to increase and 16 percent expect them to fall, resulting in a balance of +22 percent, the highest since April 2012.
Manufacturers' investment intentions improved sharply and firms citing uncertainty about demand as a constraint on investment fell to the lowest since October 2010.
However, in January, the order book balance fell to -2 from 12 in December. The expected level for January was 10 percent.
The dip in orders in January is a reminder that the manufacturing sector is not guaranteed a strong 2014, said IHS Global Insight's Chief UK Economist Howard Archer.
Improving global growth is seen helping UK manufacturers' export orders during 2014, although the upside for export orders may well be constrained by only gradually improving domestic demand in the Eurozone, Archer added.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com