Although manufacturing activity slowed its growth in the first two months of the year, it continues to increase with the advancement of automotive production.
The growth of the industrial activity continues despite the slowdown in the months of January and February, mainly driven by the automotive production, which underwent changes in its payment modality so as not to interrupt productivity in the plants. This was also perceived by businessmen grouped in the Argentine Industrial Union (UIA)in a survey that expressed its growth expectations for 2023.
According to a report from the FAITHFUL Foundationthe AManufacturing activity grew 1% in the first two months of the yearwith a drop in industrial production in February that fell by 1.5% in its year-on-year relationship, determined by the effects associated with plant stoppages and the drought impact.
Among the sectors, the best performance was again shown by the Automotive industrywith a marked advance in production and exports, registering a cumulative year-on-year improvement of 30.5%. The sector of the non metallic minerals (18.5%), while the chemicals and plastics once again show a significant drop (17.7%).
The growth was also noticeable in the basic metal industries (+14.2%), the refining of Petroleum (+13.9%), the production of paper and cellulose (+3.5%), the metalworking (+2.0%) and that of textile inputs (+1.1%). With a level of activity similar to that of the first two months of last year, the production of food and drinks (-0.1%).
On the other hand, within the production categorized by type of goods, the production of utility vehicles and other equipment -including agricultural machinery- leads the growth ranking with an accumulated improvement of 15.1% in the first two months of the year and in the interannual comparison. It is followed by the production of consumer goods durable with an improvement of 9.7% in the two-month period.
Finally, the production of non-durable consumer goods almost equals (-0.2%) the level of activity of the first two months of last year, while goods for intermediate use accumulate a cut of 2.1% in the same period of 2022. Among this type of goods, the advance of the production of non metallic mineralsthe basic metal industries and the refining of Petroleum offset the drop in the production of chemicals and plastics.
Source: Ambito
