ISTANBUL

Turkey's manufacturing industry used 70.7% of its capacity in July, the country's Central Bank said on Friday.

The capacity utilization rate (CUR) of the sector increased 4.7 percentage points on a monthly basis, the bank survey showed.

The figures are based on the responses given to its business tendency survey by local units operating in the manufacturing industry, according to the bank.

Some 1,749 companies responded to the survey this month.

Among the six main industrial groups, the highest capacity usage was 73.3% for intermediate goods, while non-durable consumer goods posted the lowest rate with 66.9%.

Among more than 20 sectors, the highest CUR was posted by manufacturers of paper and paper products at 81.1%, and July's lowest capacity usage was seen in manufacturers of leather products at 50.8%.