Industrial production surges 7.5%

Significant industrial production growth measuring 11.1 per cent in November fuelled the index’s positive rise in the first 11 months of the year.

GSO experts said the processing and manufacturing sector, which made up 76 per cent of the country’s total industrial output, had a tendency to increase towards the year-end. The sector achieved an encouraging month-on-month production growth of 11 per cent in November and a year-on-year increase of 8.6 per cent in 11 months.

Several industrial products recorded high growth, including handsets at 60 per cent, automobiles at 28.3 per cent, steel at 24.2 per cent and leather and footwear at 20 per cent, as well as cloth at 15.8 per cent and electricity at 12.3 per cent.

Other products, however, recorded lower growth such as crude oil at 1.7 per cent and coal at 0.4 per cent. Some products recorded industrial production declines such as motorcycles by 10 per cent, liquid petroleum gas by 7.6 per cent and powdered milk by 7.2 per cent.

From January to November, the inventory index increased by 10.2 per cent year-on-year. Major industries showing higher levels of inventory included pharmaceuticals at 155.4 per cent, chemicals at 118.1 per cent, food processing at 96 per cent and metal production at 87.8 per cent.

GSO experts predicted that the inventory index would likely fall next month because of an anticipated rise in domestic consumption