Unexpected fall in Italian industrial production, the cause is in consumption
In February 2023, industrial production in Italy fell by 0.2% compared to the previous month, after a decline of 0.5% in January, adjusted downwards, and missing market expectations of a 0.5% increase.
Production decreased for intermediate goods (-0.3% compared to -0.5% in January), capital goods (-0.9% compared to -1.7%) and consumer goods (-0, 7% versus 0.8%). On the other hand, power generation increased by 0.2%, after a 0.1% increase in January. On a year-over-year basis, industrial production fell 2.3%, compared with an upwardly revised 1.6% increase the previous month. Here is the related short-term chart:
The problem is related to the decline in the production of consumer goods. From some of my informal contacts, I have the unscientific feeling that the drop in the consumption of non-durable goods is very high and will be officially recorded in the next few months. Positive is the decrease in the decline in the production of capital goods. If we then move on to analyzing the trends of the individual sectors, the result is as follows:
The drop in paper and printing production was impressive, 15.9% on an annual basis, typical of energy-intensive activities such as paper mills. A similar trend is seen in the chemical sector, which is also energy-intensive. Conversely, pharmaceuticals see an increase of more than 19% year-on-year.
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The article Unexpected fall in Italian industrial production, the cause is in consumption comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/caduta-inaspettata-della-produzione-industriale-italiana-la-causa-e-nei-consumi/ on Thu, 13 Apr 2023 13:35:08 +0000.