Hungary´s industry driven by automotive sector
The volume of Hungary’s industrial production grew by 1.6% month on month in February, according to data adjusted seasonally and for working days. In annual terms IP increased by 8.1%, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) reported on Tuesday.
In the last three months of 2013 the production volume was dropping continuously, which likely had to do primarily with the increased significance of the end-year production stoppages. Since then, however, the sector gained strength.
In January, industrial production (IP) was up 3.2% m/m and in February growth this time came to 1.6%. By this the industry has more than offset the previous contraction and shows an unbroken rising trend, reported portfolio.hu.
Although details behind this increase will be revealed only next week, the pattern suggests that the driving force was the vehicle manufacturing sector. A few capacity boosts are in the pipeline this year therefore IP growth is expected to be persistent. In the medium term, however, it will be hugely important whether other sectors can grow too or no. Hungary’s industrial growth is extremely limited both in geographical and sectoral terms.
Portfolio.hu reported: the good news about the industrial restructuring is that the era when soaring vehicle production failed to compensate for the decline in other segments (e.g. electronics) has ended. The National Bank of Hungary (NBH) pointed out in its latest quarterly Report on Inflation that if the available automotive capacities reach full swing in the following years and this growth rate exceeds the rate of capacity decrease in the electronics segment, Hungary’s export market share, which has been diminishing over the past few years, can expand once again, reported portfolio.hu.
