Uruguay: Industrial production surges in February

Industrial production jumped 9.2% year-on-year in February, contrasting January’s 1.1% contraction and marking the strongest expansion since March 2015. February’s return to growth partly reflected a base effect due to a strong industrial production contraction in February 2017, and seemingly pointed to the departure from a downward trend observed over the previous 12 months.

Nevertheless, industrial production excluding the contribution of the La Teja refinery, the country’s only oil refinery and a major contributor to the overall production, fell 2.1% in February, a slight moderation from January’s 2.7% contraction. Meanwhile, annual average change in industrial output including the contribution of La Teja refinery improved, moderating from minus 11.3% in January, to minus 9.8% in February.

Uruguay Industrial Production Forecast

Panelists surveyed for this month’s LatinFocus report expect industrial production to increase 6.9% in 2018, which is up 0.1 percentage points from last month’s forecast. For 2019, the panel sees industrial output growth moderating to 3.6%.