The manufacturing industry grew 1.1% year-on-year in the first quarter of the year, according to the Physical Volume Index (IVF) that prepares the Chamber of Industries of Uruguay (CIU), which reflected the improvement of the production, not including the refinery Ancap.
The greatest positive variation in January-March was 31% and occurred in the category Wood, Paper and Printing, with an incidence of 4.5% in the total, which speaks clearly of the impact of the implementation of UPM 2, as arises from the important growth of the pulp branch of pulp, paper and cardboard, which increased by 47.3%.
In fact, if the items where they influence UPM, Pepsi ZF and Montes del Plata, Production decreased by 6.4% compared to the first quarter of 2023.
Of a total of 53 sectors, 16 increased their activity, while 38 decreased it in January-March. In fact, only 29% of the total increased their production in interannual terms. In addition, industrial monitoring reflected that so far in 2024, more branches have increased Job positions than those that decreased their employed personnel.
The variations of each sector
When evaluating by branches, other products was the one with the greatest negative impact, with a drop of 28.3%, while manufacturing of soaps and detergents It was the sector with the greatest positive impact on the variation in the group’s production, with 17.7%.
Meanwhile, the branch sawmill and wood planing showed a drop of 13.6%, negatively affecting approximately 1.6% and the grouping chemicals and plastic showed a decrease of 2%.
Food, drinks and tobacco Its production decreased by 2%, while the production of milling products was the sector with the greatest negative impact, registering a decrease of 43.2% in the year-on-year comparison.
In January-March, the production of metal products, machinery and equipment decreased by 7%, with machinery and equipment manufacturing as the item that registered the greatest negative impact, falling by 42.4%.
Besides, textile, clothing and leather suffered a reduction of 11%, with a negative impact of 0.3%. Manufacturing of other textile products was the hardest hit sector, with a decrease of 20.2%.
Finally, basic metallic and non-metallic minerals showed a deterioration of 22%, with an incidence of 0.8%. The Concrete, cement and plaster articles sector had the most negative impact, with 33.3%.
Source: Ambito
