Exactly!!
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that new orders rose by 0.7 percent in May following a 2 percent plunge in April. The slight increase left orders at a seasonally adjusted $399.9 billion in May.
I wonder how much we manufactured before we were enfeebled? I wonder how much China manufactured in May?
Answered:
China's industrial production up 17.9% in May
(Xinhua Online) [15 Jun 2006]China's industrial production grew 17.9 percent in May from the same month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.
The total added value of China's large and medium-sized industrial enterprises in the first five months is 3174.8 billion yuan, up 17 percent.
A NBS monthly report said the added value of China's large and medium-sized industrial enterprises reached 706 billion yuan (88.25 billion U.S. dollars).
In terms of products, the output of coal went up by 12.9 percent to 173 million tons, crude oil, up 2.5 percent to 15.72 million tons, and electricity, up 12.5 percent to 217.5 billion kilowatt-hour.
The output of pig iron, crude steel and steel rose 23 percent, 19.6 percent and 27.1 percent, respectively, the NBS said.
The output of automobiles grew 28.4 percent to 620 thousand units, with that of sedans increasing 51.7 percent to 330 thousand units.
Double-figure growth was registered in the industrial added value of the textile industry, chemical materials and related processing industry, non-metal mineral industry, ferrous metals smelting and pressing industry, telecommunications devices, computers and other electronic devices, and transportation equipment manufacturing.
The value of goods for export delivered by large and medium-sized enterprises witnessed a 23-percent growth in May to 475.5 billion yuan.
The sales ratio of industrial goods increased by 0.22 percent to 97.75 percent.
Large and medium-sized enterprises comprise all state-owned ones and non-state owned ones, whose annual sales exceed five million yuan.
So we can see that they are well on track to have annual industrial production of over a trillion. But not to worry, we're always told that the hemmhorrage will be healed like magic by insourcing. Let's examine that topic briefly, and see what is happening with one of the principal foreign "insourcers" that are building plants in the U.S. Perhaps we can get a small clue from Honda's production figures, which are starting from a non-existent base in China...to almost a quarter of what they make in the U.S.:
Production by Region
| April | Year-to-Date Total (Jan - Apr 2006) |
|||
|
Units
|
Vs.4/05
|
Units
|
Vs.2005
|
|
| North America |
110,241
|
-2.5%
|
473,250
|
+3.9%
|
| (USA only) |
77,335
|
-1.0%
|
335,656
|
+7.1%
|
| Europe |
14,832
|
-12.1%
|
66,701
|
+1.4%
|
| Asia |
54,061
|
+27.9%
|
193,595
|
+23.0%
|
| (China only) |
29,835
|
+44.2%
|
103,271
|
+41.4%
|
| Others |
6,163
|
-8.2%
|
27,726
|
+11.7%
|
| Overseas Total |
185,297
|
+3.6%
|
761,272
|
+8.2%
|
At this rate of expansion, the Chinese Honda operation will surpass, by units (not profits) total U.S. Honda operations within five years.