THE GROWTH rate in Slovakia’s industrial output accelerated in November and, according to the latest figures from the Statistics Office, industrial output in the country in the eleventh month was 17.3 percent higher than a year earlier and 3.9 percent higher than in October.
For the period January to November 2010 the index of industrial production rose by 18.8 percent year-on-year, with a 20.1-percent surge in industrial manufacturing, a 14.8-percent jump in distribution of electricity, gas, steam and cool air and a 0.8-percent rise in mining and extraction of raw mineral materials.
“Industrial production has overtaken the pre-crisis maximums and at the moment it is about 5 percent higher than in the first half of 2008,” Mária Valachyová, an analyst with Slovenská Sporiteľňa, said, as quoted by the TASR newswire. She added that Slovakia's industrial sector depends mainly on foreign demand, mostly from Germany.
Dávid Dereník, an analyst with the UniCredit Bank Slovakia, stated that German industrial and financial indicators are fulfilling the optimistic expectations of both German and Slovak factory owners.
“The expected significant slowdown in industry at the turn of the years will be less visible in the year-on-year comparison, thanks to the growing basis from last year,” Dereník said, as quoted by TASR. “In the month-on-month comparison industrial production will probably keep its growing numbers.”
Valachyová added that she expects Slovakia’s industrial production to keep moving higher in 2011 based on the ongoing revival of other European economies.
