Italy: Industrial activity falls at sharpest pace since September 2020 in January
Industrial production dropped 3.4% month-on-month in seasonally-adjusted terms in January (December: -1.0% mom). January’s outturn marked the sharpest drop since September 2020. January’s notable downturn came on the back of contractions in manufacturing and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning production.
On an annual basis, factory output fell 2.6% in January (December: +4.4% yoy), the worst result since November 2020. Meanwhile, annual average of industrial production was steady at December’s 12.2% in January.
Commenting on the outlook for the first quarter, Paolo Pizzoli, senior economist for Italy and Greece at ING, said:
“After such a poor start, prospects for Italian industrial production in the first quarter of 2022 look grim. Just when Covid-related supply chain disruptions were beginning to ease, the energy/commodity price channel took over, threatening developments and reportedly forcing temporary production stops among intensive gas users. Recent anecdotal evidence referring to production stops among steel producers and paper mills suggests that the shock is spreading to other sectors.”