Industrial activity fell by 3.1% year-on-year in August

Industrial activity fell in August 3.1% year-on-year, while construction fell 3% in the same comparison, reported today the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Indec). Compared to last July, in the measurement without seasonality the manufacturing industrial production index (manufacturing IPI) showed an increase of 0.5%, which accumulated in January-August a neutral variation of 0% against the same period of the previous year. For its part, the synthetic indicator of construction activity (ISAC) realized that the accumulated of the eight months of 2023 reflected a decrease of 2.7% compared to the same period of 2022. Meanwhile, in the seasonally adjusted comparison against the month of July, the August index showed a decrease of 1.2%, while in the trend-cycle series it registered an increase of 0.4% month-on-month. In terms of its incidence at the general level, the most important falls were registered in “Food and beverages”, 7.3%; “Basic metal industries”, 7.4 per cent; “Chemicals”, 3.4 per cent; “Petroleum refining, coke and nuclear fuel”, 6.7 per cent; “Textiles”, 5.1%; and “Machinery and equipment”, 1.6%. The decline in Food and Beverages had as its main negative impact the milling of oilseeds, which plummeted by 26.6% year-on-year. Due to the effect of the drought that affected soybean production in the last campaign, the amount of grain entered into milling during the month of August decreased by 34.3%. The only five divisions that ended with year-over-year growth in the eighth month were “Other Equipment, Apparatus and Instruments,” 10.6%; “Motor vehicles, bodies, trailers and auto parts”, 3.9%; “Apparel, leather and footwear”, 4.5 per cent; “Tobacco products”, 2.3%; and “Metal products”, 0.1%. In the accumulated of the year, Automotive presented an increase of 6.2%, Furniture and other industries 3.8%, and Non-metallic minerals and textiles 2.7%. Regarding the construction sector, the statistical agency highlighted that “the data of the apparent consumption of inputs in August 2023 showed year-on-year increases of 11.3% in granite and calcareous mosaics and 8.8% in construction paints”.

Original source in Spanish