Romania’s industry loses steam in Nov after six-month recovery

Romania's industrial production index, seasonally adjusted, edged down by 0.6% in November, compared to October, after six months of recovery, during which it made up for most of the deep plunge seen in March.

As of October, the index was only 2.7% behind the pre-crisis peak reached in February, but the recovery paused in November when it slipped to -3.3% versus February.

The decline in November was more significant in the core manufacturing sector, where the seasonally adjusted index contracted by 1.7% compared to October.

Still, the lag versus February is in line with the industry-wide 3.3% average.

In annual terms, the gross industrial production index deepened in the negative territory (-3.3% year-on-year) in November after it recorded the first post-crisis positive annual performance in September (+0.2% year-on-year).

For the whole January-November period, Romania's industrial output contracted by 10.2% year-on-year, with a slightly steeper (11.3%) decline in the manufacturing sector.

The light industry plunged by roughly 30% year-on-year, oil processing and automobile production dropped by nearly 20%.

However, some industries (chemical products, pharmaceuticals) posted positive growth rates in the low single-digit area. Tobacco processing also performed well.

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