Industry, slower in August

Industrial output has slowed down its growth pace in August, following the 6% peak in July. The output in the first eight months went up 3.3% compared with the corresponding period of 2002. Processing industry posted 4.4% growth, while the sector consisting in production, transport and distribution of electrical and thermal power, natural gases and hot water witnessed a 6.4% output increase. Industrial output in August was 5.9% higher in comparable conditions in terms of number of working days and 2.5% higher in absolute volume. As for the agricultural sector, the number of farm animals at the end of August compared with the same time last year was 8.3% higher for swine, 1.6% higher for sheep and 0.6% higher for cattle. Finished product inventories across the industry had come to total 53,716bn ROL in current prices by late August, accounting for 38.6% of the month’s resources. The main primary energy sources in the first eight months of the year totalled 25,179.3 thousand tonnes in oil equivalent, 16,098.5 thousand tonnes of which accounting for domestic production. Electrical power production in this period amounted to 37.8bn KWh, up 6.5% from the corresponding period of last year. ZF