The use of installed capacity in the industry rose in September to 68.6%, 2.3 percentage points above the 66.3% of the same month last year, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec) reported on Wednesday. .
Compared to the previous August, the September level was 1.3 points below, because in that month the use of machinery and equipment in the manufacturing sector was 69.6%, the agency added.
The sectoral blocks that present levels of utilization of installed capacity higher than the general level were Non-metallic mineral products, with 83.3%: Basic metals, 81.4%; Paper and cardboard, 78.5%; Petroleum refining, 77.9%; and Chemical substances and products, 69.8%.
The sectoral blocks that were located below the general level were Food products and beverages, 68.6%; Edition and printing, 65.9%; Automotive, 65.6%; Tobacco, 63.5%; Textiles, 62.6%; Metal mechanics, 56.3%; and Rubber and plastic derivatives, 55.3%.
The correlation with the level of industrial activity
The variation in the use of installed capacity was correlated with the activity level of the industry, which increased 4.2% year-on-year during September, but fell 0.2% compared to August.
Thus, in the first nine months of the year, industrial activity accumulated an increase of 6%.
Last week, the Secretary for Productive Development, José Ignacio de Mendiguren, stated that “the world sees Argentina as a global public asset for all that it has to offer”, mainly in terms of energy, food, mining and the economy of the knowledge.
Speaking at the 28th UIA Industrial Conference, De Mendiguren stressed that “the priority is to sustain growth, but with economic development.”
In this sense, he assured: “We have already tested the stabilization plans through adjustment policies; that brings a drop in activity and in tax collection and employment.”
De Mendiguren added: “We believe in an Argentina with a strong industrial process, which is the only genuine way out of the country’s chronic problems, which from time to time returns to external restrictions and crises.”
13 of 16 items showed year-on-year increases
Beyond the declarations, during September, 13 of the 16 items of the manufacturing industry presented year-on-year increases.
In order to its incidence at the general level, there were increases of 2.9% in “Food and beverages”; 14% in “Motor vehicles and auto parts”; 7.7% in “Basic metal industries”; 9.6% in “Clothing, leather and footwear”; 8.1% in “Non-metallic minerals”; 2.4% in “Chemical substances and products”.
To these were added improvements of 4.8% in “Machinery and equipment”; 5.4% in “Metal products”; 2.7% in “Wood, paper, publishing and printing”; 6.2% in “Oil refining, coke and nuclear fuel”; 3.1% in “Furniture and mattresses and other manufacturing industries”; 3.8% in “Textiles”; and 7.1% in “Other transportation equipment”.
INDEC also carried out a qualitative survey in the manufacturing sector on the prospects for the coming months.
About how they expect domestic demand to evolve up to and including December, 31.8% of businessmen anticipate an increase against 24.2% who expect a decrease, while the remaining 44% do not anticipate major changes.
