New contraction of industrial production in April. This was noted by Istat which released an estimate of -0,7% compared to March. Food and Beverage they are the only ones positive sectors, in a depressed general picture for the Italian manufacture.
It 's true that - notes the Istat - the placement of the holiday of 25th April, could have generated an effect of calendar penalty. But beyond the monthly fluctuations, the slowdown of our productions is evident, visible in a drop the 0,7% since March, after the increases at the beginning of the year.
Even on an annual basis there is a 1,5% contraction for calendar effects. Since March, the index has only increased in the energy sector (+3,6%), capital goods -2,5%, intermediate goods -0,7% and consumer goods -0,5%.
The critical point is the auto sector, the Italian production that is decreased in April of 17,1% compared to the previous year. In the quarter, the decline was 14,7%, a problem that emerges not only in Europe but also in USA, Canada and Mexico and especially in China where for the car a cumulative contraction of 14,7% (1,2 million fewer cars).
Compared to April 2018, they are down 13 out of 15 sectors which correspond to a weight equal to almost 80% of industry. A significant decline could only have an impact on Piazza Affari which slows down in mid-morning (+0,14%) compared to the opening. Only the supply of electricity, gas, steam and air (+5,8%) and the food, beverage and tobacco industries (+4,9%) recorded a trend increase.
However, the sectorial extent of the decline is worrying, with the textile, clothing, leather and accessories industries (-8,2%), the manufacture of coke and refined petroleum products (-7,4%), that of machinery and equipment nec (-6,2%) and means of transport (-6,1%).
Taking the current values of the last nine months, investments in
machinery increased by just 93 million compared to the previous period, when instead the leap was 8,5 billion
euro.
If the present isn't so brilliant, the future won't be particularly different: the most recent estimates see zero growth in revenues for Italian manufacturing at constant values, taking into account the price effect.
