Index of industrial production, October 2003

The intermediate goods output has decreased by 2.0 per cent during the last 3 months compared with the previous 3 months. The basic metal output has decreased by 0.2 per cent and the basic chemicals output has decreased by 1.4 per cent. The non-metallic mineral products and the wood and wood products also experienced the same by 3.5 per cent and 2.9 per cent respectively. Meanwhile the output in pulp, paper and paper products has increased by 2.3 per cent.

Capital goods output

The capital goods output has decreased by 1.5 per cent the last 3 months compared with the previous 3 months. This is mostly related to the drop in the transport equipment output and the drop in the oil platforms and modules output. The machinery and equipment output and the fabricated metal products output also have experienced a decline.

Consumer goods output

The consumer goods output in total has increased by 0.8 per cent. This is caused by the 0.9 per cent increase in the consumer non-durable goods output. Among the consumer non-durable, the publishing, printing and reproduction output has experienced a 2.4 per cent increase.

New figures for the third quarter 2003

The basic metal output is about 4 per cent lower than what was published earlier. This is a result of the new calculation for the third quarter 2003 based on the new information on that sector.