Argentine manufacturing sector shrinks 9.4 pct in H1

Source: Xinhua | 2019-08-08

Industrial manufacturing output continued to dip in Argentina, registering an accumulated 9.4 percent drop year-on-year in the first half of 2019, the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) said on Tuesday.
In June, the manufacturing sector contracted 1.8 percent month-on-month, mainly due to lower output in automobiles and transport vehicles, textiles and garments, metal products as well as machinery and equipment.
According to the INDEC, automobile manufacturing plummeted 29.1 percent in June year-on-year; textiles, garments, leather and footwear slipped 13.4 percent year-on-year.
A slump was also witnessed in other sectors, including nonmetallic minerals (-8.2 percent), basic metals (-4.6 percent), metal products (-11.8 percent), and equipment and machinery (-9.1 percent).
The food and beverage industry was among the few sectors which exhibited some growth, mostly due to an increase in output for export.