Hungary: Industrial output records best reading since January in July
According to a second estimate by the Statistical Institute, industrial output expanded 6.6% compared to the same month a year earlier in July, which was above June’s 4.8% increase. The print marked the best reading since January. Looking at the details of the release, July’s pickup was broad-based, with the manufacturing, mining and quarrying and electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning sub-sectors all gaining steam.
On a monthly basis, industrial production increased 1.1% in seasonally-adjusted terms in July, which was better than June’s 0.7% expansion. Meanwhile, annual average industrial production growth fell to 3.2% in July (June: +3.5%), which marked an over one-year low.
Commenting on the release, Orsolya Nyeste, analyst at Erste bank, stated:
“The performance seen in July showed that so far, the sector has remained resilient to negative effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war, energy crisis and continued supply-chain bottlenecks. One explanation could be that many companies in the sector had long or medium-term contracts regarding their energy costs. These contracts however would expire soon, and from the autumn the sector would increasingly be burdened by extremely rising cost of energy.”