Industry: The use of installed capacity registered its second worst December in six years

It is worth remembering that December 2023 was an atypical monthwith a government transition that included a strong devaluation of the currency. The generalized climate of uncertainty resulted in an installed capacity of just 54.9% at that time.

Even so, the data remained at very low levels in historical terms. The figure was even lower than that of December 2020when the economy was affected by the impact of the Covid-19 Pandemia.

The industry suffered its worst fall since 2002

In 2024 the industry suffered its worst annual fall since 2002, losing 9.4% compared to the previous year. The fall in domestic consumption, the paralysis in the demand for construction supplies and problems paying imports in the first months of the year were the reasons for this collapse.

Within the most relevant divisions within the Industrial Production Index (IPI) of INDEC, The ones that fell most in 2024 were non-metallic mineral products (-24.3%), machinery and equipment (-18.6%) and basic metallic industries (-17.5%). The construction crisis impacted these sectors through the lowest demand for products such as cement or steel, while depressed consumption was reflected, for example, in the low dynamism of appliance production.

While Petroleum refining was the only activity that improved over 2023 (+2%)Food and drinks was the most limited loss (-0.8%). It is worth noting that in both cases these are items with export exit.

Only from July they began to be observed monthly recoveries. In December, the industry produced 0.2% more than the previous month, according to the Destationalized series of INDEC, although this series was still 0.5% behind the November 2023 levelbefore the arrival of Milei to Casa Rosada.