Industrial output shows signs of recovery in May

The economy started to show signs of revival in May, following the slow period in the first few months of the year and especially the decline in the industrial output registered in February compared with the same month last year.

Industrial output in May went up 4.4% from the same month in 2002, i.e. 4.8% in absolute volume and 3.8% in comparable conditions in terms of number of working days. This trend may very well show a revival of the industrial companies’ business, considering the output maintained the slow pace in April, as well.

If looking at the first five months, the industrial output progressed by 2.6% in comparable conditions and by 1.9% in absolute volume compared to the corresponding period of 2002, propelled by the processing and energy sectors.

The National Statistics Institute shows the processing industry saw output up 3.5% in comparable conditions and 2.7% in absolute volume, whereas the energy industry logged 2.9% progress. The finished product inventories were worth 53,391bn ROL by late May, accounting for 37.4% of the month’s resources.

As for the turnover of retail companies, it gained only 1.6% in the first four months of this year, compared with the same time in 2002, against the 1.1% increase in foodstuffs sales and the 2% increase in non-foodstuffs sales.

The companies dealing in wholesale, retail, car and motorcycle repair and car fuel sales posted 10.6% turnover growth in the above-mentioned interval. This trend was induced by the higher sales of vehicles and motorcycles, as well as by the higher revenues derived from vehicle repair services, with the total growth reaching 16.3%. razvan.voican@zf.ro