The turnover of Italian industry was stable between February and March. This is what emerges from the Istat data, according to which the turnover of the industry in the month of March recorded a zero change compared to the previous month, while in February it had increased by 2,3% compared to January. On an annual basis, however, the figure decreased by 3,1% (data corrected for calendar effects), recording a drop of 6,8% on the domestic market and an increase of 4,8% on the foreign market.
The seasonally adjusted turnover indices scored cyclical increases for energy (+7,1%) and for intermediate goods (+1,0%). Those of capital goods (-4,4%) and consumer goods (-0,3%) decreased. The raw turnover index decreased, in trend terms, by 3,2%: the largest contribution to this decrease comes from the internal component of intermediate goods. The greatest tendential increase in turnover is recorded for the coke and refined petroleum products manufacturing sector (+13,2%), while the most marked decrease concerns the manufacture of electrical equipment and non-electrical household equipment (-11,6%).
As far as the industrial orders, up 3,5% in March on a monthly basis (seasonally adjusted data), while they are down 14,3% year-on-year (raw data). It's about the steepest downward trend since August 2009. The 3,5% cyclical increase is the synthesis of increases of 2,6% in domestic orders and 5,1% in foreign orders. On average for the last three months, total orders decreased by 5,1% compared to the previous quarter.
For orders, the largest trend increase is observed for manufacturing computers, electronic and optical products, electromedical devices, measuring devices and watches (+1,7%). The largest decline is recorded for the manufacture of electrical appliances and non-electrical household appliances (-29,5%).
