The value of manufacturers' orders-on-hand for local production fell 6.7% in October over a year earlier, the Census & Statistics Department says.

Comparing October with the same month last year, the fabricated metal products industry had the largest fall in value of orders-on-hand (-21.1%). This was followed by the electronic products (-17.9%), textiles (-4.1%), printing and publishing (-1.5%), electrical products (-0.9%), and plastic products (-0.5%) industries.

However, the value of orders-on-hand in the wearing apparel industry rose 1.4% concurrently.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the value of manufacturers' orders-on-hand for the three months ending October rose 1.8% over the three months ending July.