Industry, orders down (-6,4%) and turnover up (+1,5%)

From the data released today by Istat it emerges that in April 2011 the turnover of Industry, net of seasonal factors, increased by 1,5% compared to the previous month, with increases on the domestic market of 1,7% and on the abroad equal to 1,3%. In the last three months, revenues increased by an average of 4,2% compared to the previous quarter. Corrected for calendar effects (the working days were 20 against 21 in April 2010) the turnover grew by 14,2% compared to last year.
However, the month was negative for orders, which saw their biggest decline since August 2009. Total orders were down 6,4% month-on-month, due to a 12,1% decrease in foreign ones and 2,6% of domestic ones. However, on average for the quarter, the cyclical figure remains positive (+6,7%). Even on an annual basis, growth was 5,8%.
The goods that contributed most to the cyclical growth in turnover were capital goods (+5%), energy (+2,3%) and consumer goods (+1,6%). On an annual basis, however, it was the foreign component of intermediate goods that gave the greatest impetus. The sectors of economic activity for which, compared to April 2010, the greatest increases in total turnover are recorded are those of the manufacture of refined petroleum products (+30,1%) and the manufacture of chemical products (+26,1%). .
As regards orders, the greatest trend increase is observed for the manufacturing of chemical products (+22%) and for metallurgy and manufacturing of metal products (+9,9%)