Industry contracts y/y despite monthly growth

Ljubljana – Slovenia’s industry contracted at an annual rate of 1.5% in February after a 1.3% growth was reported the month before, but the output increased month-on-month, fresh official statistics show.

Only mining and quarrying posted growth year-on-year (+5.8%), while manufacturing contracted by 1.6% and the output in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply declined by 0.4%, show data, released by the Statistics Office.

Commenting on the figures, Bojan Ivanc, chief economist with the analytics department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GZS), said they were somewhat disappointing. He had expected a year-on-year growth in output.

Industrial turnover declined by 0.6% year-on-year, with turnover in the domestic market falling by 1% and sales revenue generated abroad dropping by 0.4%.

Compared with January, industrial output increased by 0.6%, which was driven mainly by growth in mining and quarrying (+6.6%) after being fuelled by manufacturing the month before. This time manufacturing grew by 0.3% and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 0.2% month-on-month.

From the month before, the value of production increased in capital goods industries (+7.4%) and in intermediate goods industries (+0.5%), but decreased in consumer goods industries (-2.3%).

Commenting on the unexpected year-on-year decline in manufacturing, Ivanc said it was mainly due to a contraction in output in high-tech and low-tech activities.

The former is the result of a lower output in the pharmaceutical sector and the former due to a transfer of a part of production of a large leather industry company serving automotive industry buyers, and partly in garments industry.

Substantial declines in February were also recorded in production of paper (-15%), non-metal mineral products (-16%), motor vehicles (-10%) and other vehicles and vessels (-11%), Ivanc said.

Industrial turnover rose by 2.2% from January.

The value of stocks in February was 0.1% higher than a month before and 0.2% higher than a year ago.

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