Industry orders and turnover pick up again in January but those of the car sector are collapsing. Istat communicates it, specifying that the leap is +3,1% compared to December, when Industry revenues plunged 3,5% on November and even by 7,9% compared to the previous year. The trend data is also positive which records a + 0,6%. Orders are rising again which recorded a cyclical growth of 1,8%. Positive data that collide, however, with the disappointing balance sheet for the quarter, negative for 1,8% in the case of turnover and 2,1% for orders. In the overall scenario, however, weighs the thud of the car: January 2019 was the worst month for the turnover of the Italian automotive industry for almost ten years. Istat estimates a trend drop of 21,5%, the largest in almost ten years, starting from June 2009 (when it was -21,6%). Orders are also down by 21,7%.
But let's start with the overall data and then go down to the sectoral data.
The cyclical increase in turnover - observes Istat - concerns both the domestic market (+2,3%) and, to a more accentuated extent, the foreign market (+4,5%). The growth in orders is the synthesis of a decline in orders from the domestic market (-1,1%) and a marked increase in those from abroad (+6,0%).
Looking at the year-over-year performance, it's the machinery and equipment to have provided the greatest positive contribution while the sector of means of transport is characterized as the worst, “above all due to the trend of the motor vehicle sector” observes the Institute of Statistics. A downward trend which is also confirmed by the car sales in February, disseminated by Unrae – the European association of manufacturing companies – and which penalizes Italy (-2,4%).
The summary is that the recovery in January, although it is a positive sign, is not enough to recover the abyss of 2018.
Looking at the individual sectors, the turnover adjusted for calendar effects recorded the greatest trend growth in the machinery and equipment sector (+8,8%) and the most significant decline in the pharmaceutical industry (-13,8%).
The raw index of orders shows a tendential decline of 1,2%, deriving from decreases both for the domestic market (-1,9%) and, to a lesser extent, for the foreign market (-0,2%). The greatest growth is recorded for the textile industries (+5,4%), while the most marked decrease is still found in the pharmaceutical industry (-5,1%).
