THE INDUSTRIAL Production Index (IPP) was up 7.5 percent year-on-year in September 2013, the Statistics Office data show, as reported by the TASR newswire.
This development was mainly caused by a 9.9-percent increase in industrial manufacturing. Conversely, production significantly fell in electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supplies by 8.8 percent, and in mining and quarrying by 0.6 percent.
Overall production growth in industry was due mainly to increases in the production of metals and metal constructions, apart from machinery and equipment, by 23.4 percent, electronic equipment by 58.1 percent, other manufacturing, repairs and the installation of machinery and equipment by 36.1 percent and the production of transport vehicles by 3.5 percent.
Conversely, production volumes were down in food, beverages and tobacco products by 6.8 percent, in computers, electronic and optical products by 3.9 percent, in basic pharmaceutical products by 36.1 percent, and in wood and paper products and printing by 2.3 percent.
The improvement in Slovak industrial output in September as reported by the Statistics Office on Monday is largely related to an overall revival in the eurozone, and it has made Slovakia the fastest-growing country in central Europe, according to Tatra Banka analyst Boris Fojtík.
"This surprisingly good result is mainly due to developments in metal production,” TASR quoted Fojtík as saying. “This sector had been inconspicuous in previous months, but it made up more than one-third of overall year-on-year growth in industry as a whole in September. The second-most significant contribution was due to electronics, with good months alternating with even better ones, and an almost 60-percent year-on-year increase recorded in September.”
UniCredit Bank Slovakia chief analyst Ľubomír Koršňák expects industry to maintain relatively dynamic year-on-year growth in the final quarter of 2013.
“Apart from a gradual recovery in European economies, this may also be aided by the lower comparison basis from last year," Koršňák told TASR.
Home Credit Slovakia analyst Michal Kozub noted that this time it was not only the car industry that served as the workhorse of the national economy.
VÚB Bank analyst Andrej Arady pointed out that although growth in the car industry has stabilised at a relatively low level, car production has nevertheless been contributing significantly towards overall output.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Michaela Terenzani from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
