Industrial activity registered in May an improvement of 11.9% compared to the same month last year, while construction marked an advance of 19.9% in the same period, reported the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (Indec).
Compared to the previous month, manufacturing activity fell 1.1% in May, while construction increased 0.4% in the month-on-month comparison.
In the first five months of the year, industrial activity accumulated an increase of 5.7% and construction showed an improvement of 6.3%, the official agency specified.
During May, fifteen of the sixteen divisions of the manufacturing industry presented year-on-year increases.
In order of their incidence in the general level, increases were registered in “Food and beverages”, 8.8%; “Clothes, leather and footwear”, 51.1%; “Non-metallic mineral products”, 20.2%; “Motor vehicles, bodies, trailers and auto parts”, 23.3%; “Wood, paper, publishing and printing”, 11.5%; “Machinery and equipment”, 15.8%; “Other equipment, devices and instruments”, 24.1%; “Chemical substances and products”, 4.2%; “Rubber and plastic products”, 11.6%; “Oil refining, coke and nuclear fuel”, 12.2%.
Meanwhile, activity in “Basic metal industries” rose 5.7%; “Furniture and mattresses, and other manufacturing industries”, 9.1%; “Metal products”, 6.5%; “Other transportation equipment ”, 63.6%, and “Textile products”, 2.4%.
The only item that marked a decline was “Tobacco products”, with a drop of 17.4%.
The Indec also carried out its usual qualitative survey on expectations in the industrial sector, in which 35.2% of the companies consulted projected that internal demand will continue to grow until August inclusive, against 18.2% who foresee a decline.
Regarding exports, 25.1% of businessmen estimated that foreign sales will increase, against 16.6% who project a decline and the remaining 58.3% who maintained that there will be no important changes.
Regarding the data of the apparent consumption of supplies for construction, in May they showed in relation to the same month of the previous year, rises of 54% in manufactured concrete; 28.8% in plaster; 26.6% in round iron and steel for construction; 24.5% in portland cement; 22.6% in plasterboard; 20.2% in the rest of the supplies (includes taps, seamless steel tubes and glass for construction); 19.2% in asphalt; 18.0% in granitic and calcareous mosaics; 15.8% in limes; 15.3% in paints for construction; 10.5% in ceramic sanitary ware; 8.8% in hollow bricks; and 0.3% in ceramic floors and coverings.
When analyzing the accumulated of the first five months of 2022, in relation to the same period of the previous year, increases of 29.0% were observed in the category of other inputs (includes taps, seamless steel tubes and glass for construction) ; 20% on asphalt; 14.1% in manufactured concrete; 11.7% in round iron and steel for construction; 10.8% in portland cement; 10.1% in plaster; 9.7% in granitic and calcareous mosaics; 7.0% in plasterboard; 6.6% in limes; and 5.2% in ceramic sanitary ware.
On the other hand, decreases of 5.4% were observed in hollow bricks; 2.3% in ceramic floors and coverings; and 2.2% in paints for construction.
