The Argentine Industrial Union (UIA) highlighted an improvement in the first data of the sector corresponding to September, but They warned of a “challenging outlook” due to greater trade openness and growing unemployment. The manufacturing industry has just suffered a new monthly decline in August.
From the entity that represents industrial entrepreneurs, they highlighted that the sector seems to have experienced a monthly rebound in the ninth month of the year, as well as a slowdown in year-on-year declines. In fact, in annual terms the declines were lower than those of the first semester in Cement shipments (-18.3%), Automotive sector (-12.6%), and electricity consumption by Large Industrial Users (-7. 7%).
At the same time, another symptom of a more solid activity were the double-digit increases in imports from Brazil (+25.3%), as well as exports to the neighboring country (+29.2%). However, regarding the largest purchases abroad, the UIA warned a “unfair competition regarding the importation of finished goodss”.
Likewise, he expressed concern about the reduction in the number of jobs that the industry has been suffering uninterruptedly: Since August 2023, more than 33,000 formal salaried jobs have been lost.
In this framework, the sustainability of the recovery process is not guaranteed. In addition to the factors mentioned previously, the UIA highlighted that, “outside the doors of the firms, currently Argentina accumulates liabilities that negatively impact the competitiveness of value chains“.
“According to our comparative study on competitiveness and Argentine cost, The country is among the least competitive in the region due to asymmetries (such as deficits in infrastructure, energy, connectivity and logistics, tax pressure, low financing, increased costs in dollars, among others) that need to be corrected,” he said.
How did the industry do in August?
According to the UIA, In August the manufacturing industry fell 7.4% year-on-year and 0.9% monthly. Among the sectors with the greatest decline, the Non-metallic minerals (-22.6% yoy), which produces inputs for the construction sector, registering its tenth decline in a row.
Similarly, production in the sector fell Automotive (-18.6% yoy), given the drop in domestic sales of national vehicles. Regarding the sector of Base metals The decrease was 11.5%, driven by a drop in iron and steel activity, although smaller compared to previous months.
For its part, the downward trend in production continued Metalworking (-10.2% yoy), accumulating fifteen months of consecutive decline, with a fall in all sectors of the sector with the exception of bodies and trailers.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
