The sector is unable to emerge from the crisis, despite having a slight monthly improvement in its production. In annual terms, metalworking was the most affected division.
The use of installed capacity by the manufacturing industry was once again below 60% in August. Despite the monthly improvement in production, the sector still does not raise its head and is one of the most affected since Javier Milei became president.
The INDEC reported this Wednesday that the use of installed capacity was 59.4% in the month in question. In this way, the figure accumulated nine months behind 60%.
It is worth remembering that the organization had published last week that the Industrial Production Index (IPI) increased in August by 0.6% compared to July, although in interannual terms it fell 4.4%. It happened in a context of high interest rateswhich slightly eased towards the end of the month, and increasing political tensions.
In this framework, the use of installed capacity fell by almost two percentage points versus August 2024, when it had been 61.2%. The main negative impact was observed in metalworking, as a consequence of the setbacks in the manufacturing of agricultural machinery, household appliances and metal products.
The declines in rubber and plastic products, and in the automotive industry, also stood out. In the first case it was due to the lower production of tires and plastic manufactures, while in the second case it was the lower activity of the automotive terminals that explained most of the decrease.
According to INDEC data, the sectoral blocks that presented levels of utilization of installed capacity higher than the general level were petroleum refining (86.1%), basic metal industries (70.4%), food and beverage products (66.6%), paper and cardboard (61.4%) and chemical substances and products (60.1%).
On the contrary, the sectoral blocks that were located below the general level were non-metallic mineral products (58.5%), automotive industry (53.3%), publishing and printing (50.9%), tobacco products (46.9%), metalworking except automotive (44.4%), rubber and plastic products (42.1%) and textile products (41.5%).
Source: Ambito
