Index of industrial production, November 2000

In November the manufacturing production was about 2 per cent lower than in the same month last year. The greatest contribution to this downswing comes from a reduction in the food production sectors and the offshore-related sectors. The output in oil platforms and modules fell by 8.8 per cent in November when compared with the same month last year.

Positive signs in manufacturing

The seasonally adjusted figures showed a negative rate of 0.5 per cent in the manufacturing production in November compared with October. However, when compared with the previous three months period, the manufacturing output rose by 1.3 per cent in the last three months period. After several months with negative growth rates, the production of the transport equipment rose moderately by 1.2 per cent in the last three months period. After reaching a substantially high production level in October, due to expanded capacity, the production of chemicals, especially basic chemicals remained high. Yet the weekly-adjusted figures showed a 1.3 per cent reduction in basic chemicals output in November compared with the same month in 1999. This downswing was partly explained by the production stop from key producers in some periods of November.

Development of the energy goods output

The energy goods production rose by 0.8 per cent in November when compared to November 1999. The energy goods production has followed an upward trend in the first six months of this year. In this period there has been a high electricity production. However, the seasonally adjusted figures showed a slight decline of 1.3 per cent in energy goods production in the last three months period, compared with the previous three months. The gas production reached a very high level in November. This upswing contributed to lift the oil and gas production in November to a 0.2 per cent higher level than in the same month last year.