Overall industrial production in Poland increased by 1.2 percent year-over-year in April, exceeding economists’ forecasts of 0.7 percent. Food production contributed the most, up by 8.9 percent year-over-year, while automotive production was up 3.4 percent and metal products by 0.4 percent, reports Polish Insider.
Compared to March, April production fell by 3.5 percent, while the year-over-year figure for March was up 2.4 percent.
mBank analysts say this production data “is definitely a good sign for the future,” especially regarding the state of Polish industry; however; they also warned that some of the upside could have been from increased imports from the U.S. ahead of possible tariffs. “Poland could also have indirectly benefited from this by exporting goods to Germany, for example,” they say, adding that next month’s data will give a clearer picture.
The highest level of growth was recorded by “repair, maintenance and installation of machinery and equipment” (+38.6% y/y), which may suggest an increase in investments, and “production of other transport equipment,” i.e., for railways, (+13.5%).
On the negative side, production decreased in the “water collection, treatment and supply” sector (-63.4% y/y) and in the clothing industry (-20.2% y/y).
“Industries related to the planned boom in public investments are growing, in the arms sector (repairs) and export industries. The latter is a reflection of a slight improvement in German industry, related to buying “in advance” before the introduction of customs duties. Poland is laboriously ‘breaking away’ from the stagnation of industry in the region,” said Rafał Benecki, chief economist of ING Bank Śląski.
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