Romania: Industrial output growth cools in July
Industrial output grew 5.8% year-on-year in July, moderating from June’s 12.8% increase. The slowdown was largely attributed to weaker growth in manufacturing output. Meanwhile, mining and quarrying output swung back into contraction in July.
On a monthly basis, factory output slid 1.0% in seasonally-adjusted terms in July, contrasting the prior month’s 0.3% expansion. Meanwhile, the trend improved again, with the annual average variation of industrial production coming in at 8.0 in July from 6.7% in June.
Eugen Sinca, analyst at Erste Bank, said:
“We expect industrial output to advance by +8.0% y/y in 2021 with the risk balance tilted to the downside on concerns related to peaking-out demand, supply chain disruptions and the spreading of Delta strain.”
FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect industrial output to expand 10.2% in 2021, which is unchanged from last month’s estimate. The panel expects industrial output to increase 5.2% in 2022, which is down 0.3 percentage points from last month’s projection.