Industrial output up 2.8% in H1

The industrial output went up 3.4% in absolute volume and 4.4% in comparable conditions in June, as compared to the previous month. It climbed 2.8% in the first six months of the year. The National Statistics Institute (INS) says that, compared with June 2002, the output rose 6.7% in absolute volume and 2.9% in comparable conditions in terms of number of working days. According to INS, both the processing and energy industry saw 3.6% growth each in the first six months. Industrial output went up 6% last year, due to the processing industry that increased 7.9%. This growth comes after the 8.2% climb in 2001, when the processing industry progressed by 9.6%. The companies selling vehicles and motorbikes and those providing car repair services saw their turnover up 17.9% in the first five months of the year, while fuel distributors logged 8% higher sales. All in all, revenues of the companies in these industries increased 12.4% compared with the same time last year. ZF