Industrial manufacturers in the United States expect lower revenues over the next 12 months, according to a report from investment advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The firm's quarterly Manufacturing Barometer report indicates that manufacturers lowered their average revenue growth forecasts for the next 12 months by 16 percent, from 6.8 percent during the first quarter to 5.7 percent for the second quarter.

The report is compiled from interviews with senior executives at multinational manufacturing firms.

The executives said they expect a 3 percent sales growth rate for the manufacturing sector as a whole this year. Seventy-eight percent said their confidence in the global economy was high, but 53 percent said competition from foreign markets is one of the top obstacles to revenue growth, second only to the threat posed by rising oil and energy prices (which 59 percent cited as a top concern).

“Most U.S. manufacturers believe that the world economy will grow faster than the domestic economy, and in order to grow their business they need to compete successfully outside the United States,” PricewaterhouseCoopers' industrial manufacturing sector leader Barry Misthal says. “As more and more of their sales come from abroad, however, it's also apparent that they are keeping a keen eye on foreign competition, which continues to intensify.”

More than two-thirds of manufacturers selling abroad said they increased international sales during the second quarter and indicated that they expect 35 percent of their total revenue to come from overseas markets during the next 12 months.