Romania\u2019s industrial output (volume) plunged 11.2% y\/y in May, in sharp contrast to the 12.1% y\/y advance marked in April, according to the data published by the statistics office INS.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the combined period April-May, which avoids the effects of the Orthodox Easter dates (May this year compared to April in 2023), the industrial output edged down by only 0.4% y\/y compared to the steeper 2.7% y\/y contraction in Q1.<\/p>\n
The improvement was more visible in the core manufacturing industries, where the industrial output increased by 1.4% y\/y in April-May compared to a 2.7% y\/y decline in Q1.<\/p>\n
A similar 1.4% y\/y advance was seen in the mining sector for April-May.<\/p>\n
The advance in the manufacturing and mining industries was dragged down by the 13.4% y\/y contraction in the utilities sector.<\/p>\n
The improvement in the core manufacturing industries (and in the overall industry to a lesser extent) is in line with the seasonally-adjusted PMI index that edged up to 52 points in May from 51.5 points in April, remaining above the 50-point neutral benchmark for the second month in a row, showing clear signs of recovery in the Romanian manufacturing sector after three months of below-neutral readings in January-March (and most of the year 2023).<\/p>\n
The improvement in the industrial sector in April-May was driven by the sectors of manufacturing of other transport means (automobile excluded, +20.6% y\/y), chemical industry (+18.6% y\/y), food manufacturing (+11.4% y\/y), and tobacco processing )+14.1% y\/y). All these sectors, except for tobacco processing, posted positive but lower annual advance rates in Q1.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In contrast, the light industries but also crude oil processing (-12% y\/y), and motor transport means manufacturing (-5% y\/y) posted negative growth rates in April-May (as well as in Q1). These industries posted negative growth rates in Q1 as well.<\/p>\n