Some surprising and optimistic news in this week as industrial production in Slovakia was up 31 percent year-on-year in May, this being the strongest growth seen yet in 2010.
The main reason for the hike was a 35.6-percent year-on-year growth in industry, which has gradually been showing signs of recovery since November 2009. Industrial production posted a 3.3 percent month-on-month growth in May.
The growth was boosted mostly by computers, electronics and optical equipment (85.3 percent year-on year), followed by machinery (67.3 percent). A drop of more than a third was posted by the production of coke and refined oil products, though. Overall industrial production posted a 22.6 y/y growth for the January to May period.
“The figure exceeds our expectations, as we expected to see a y/y growth of 20.5 percent,” said analyst with Slovenska Sporitelna bank, Michal Musak. The analyst was also surprised by the m/m hike in production, because they expected to see a drop due to production being suspended at Bratislava’s Volkswagen plant for several days in May.
“Production in industry in May was on the pre-crisis level of 1H 2008,” pointed out Musak. He was optimistic in forecasting that it could even improve further, because Volkswagen recently announced expanded production from the autumn. However, because Slovakia is so dependent on export markets, any downturn in the rest of the eurozone will affect also us.