Euro Area: Industrial production continues to expand in April
Industrial output expanded a seasonally-adjusted 0.8% over the previous month in April, following March’s softer 0.4% increase. April’s stronger rise reflected turnarounds in the production of capital and durable consumer good as well as a more pronounced increase in the production of energy more than offsetting a downturn in the production of non-durable consumer goods. Meanwhile, the pace of increase in the production of intermediate goods remained steady.
Looking at the individual economies for which data is available, industrial output expanded in 12 countries, while it contracted in five countries. Moreover, production grew in Italy and Spain, while it declined in Germany and was unchanged in France.
On an annual basis, industrial production skyrocketed 39.3% in April, as it benefited from a low base effect from April 2020, following March’s 11.5% rise. Lastly, annual average variation in industrial production improved to minus 0.6% from March’s minus 6.3%.
Commenting on the release, Bert Colijn, Eurozone senior economist at ING, stated:
“We expect shipping price pressures to remain for the next few months ahead, which also holds good for several of the most pressing input shortages for the eurozone industry. This means that while demand for goods remains very strong at the moment, industrial output could underperform given longer lead times and production hiccups. That being said, we expect production to keep rising on strong demand, low inventories and increased lead times.”