BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones)–Argentina’s industrial production in October was up sharply again on the year as manufacturers continued to crank out automobile, nonmetallic minerals, steel and metal works at a brisk pace, economic-research firm FIEL said Wednesday.
FIEL’s manufacturing index rose 5.9% on the year in October but fell 3.2% on the month.
Industrial production during the first 10 months of the year was up 4.6% on the year, with the index setting records in nine of the past 10 months, FIEL said in a report.
So far this year, the gains have been led by auto makers, which saw output rise 21.4% on the year, while nonmetallic-mineral production was up 10.5%, metal works up 8.3% and steel production up 8.1%.
Manufacturers are benefiting from the government’s import substitution measures and an economy that is growing at about 9% a year.
However, there are signs of a moderate slowdown in manufacturing due to a drop in Brazilian demand for Argentine manufactured goods, the loss of competitiveness due to the inflation-adjusted appreciation of the peso and some capacity constraints.
The government is set to release its October industrial-production report on Friday, with analysts polled by Dow Jones expecting it to report a 5.2% year-on-year gain.
-By Shane Romig, Dow Jones Newswires; 54-11-4103-6738; shane.romig@dowjones.com
Source: http://online.wsj.com