INDUSTRIAL production in Slovakia rose by 6.8 percent year-on-year in October, as a result of the rise in industrial manufacturing by 9 percent, according to the Statistics Office data. Production dropped in electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply by 7.2 percent year-on-year, and in mining and quarrying by 2.6 percent y/y. After seasonal adjustments, industrial production rose by 0.4 percent compared to September.
Total industrial production rose annually mostly thanks to increases in the manufacturing of electric equipment (by 63.6 percent), vehicles (7.7 percent), and metals and metal constructions, except for machines and equipment (18.2 percent). Moreover, the manufacturing of rubber, plastic and other non-metallic mineral products rose by 11.7 percent y/y, and the manufacturing, repair and installation of machinery and equipment rose by 16.9 percent y/y, the Statistics Office informed.
On the other hand, the volume of production dropped in annual terms in the manufacturing coke and refined petroleum products by 23.7 percent, basic pharmaceutical products and preparations by 53.3 percent, and chemicals and chemical products by 13.6 percent.
Regarding the main industrial groupings, in annual terms the production of intermediate goods rose by 15.7 percent, production of durable consumer goods by 14.2 percent, production of investment goods by 6.3 percent, and production of non-durable consumer goods by 1.1 percent. On the other hand, production related to energy was 9.7 percent lower than last year, according to the Statistics Office.
Over the first 10 months of 2013 the index of industrial production grew by 3.8 percent y/y, while the industrial manufacture grew by 4.8 percent. Production dropped in electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply by 2.2 percent, and in mining and quarrying by 2.3 percent.
The indexes of sentiment within the eurozone indicate the increase in activity, according to Slovenská Sporiteľňa analyst Martin Baláž, who also points to the fact that in Germany, which is Slovakia’s main business partner, production dropped last month. This indicates that the growth in industrial production might slow down in the following months, he explained, as reported by the SITA newswire.
Analyst with UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia Ľubomír Koršňák however assumes that the industry might maintain its relatively dynamic annual growth in the final months of the year. He backs the prognosis with, for example, better external demand, SITA wrote.
Source: Statistics Office, SITA
Compiled by Radka Minarechová from press reports
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