Russia: Industrial output drops again in February
Industrial output slid 3.7% in year-on-year terms in February, which was a deterioration from January’s -1.9% decrease. February’s notable downturn was largely due to contractions in manufacturing, and mining and quarrying production.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, industrial output rose 1.3% in February (January: -4.2% mom). Meanwhile, the trend pointed down, with the annual average variation of industrial production coming in at minus 3.6% in February, down from January’s minus 2.9%.
Commenting on the result and outlook for 2021, Dmitry Dolgin, chief Russia economist at ING, noted:
“Industrial output is now less than 1% below the pre-Covid levels, suggesting limited room for a further catch-up recovery, unless budget policy is eased further […] In the longer run, we still expect some improvement in the industrial output thanks to the expected relaxation of OPEC+ constraints. Recovery outside the commodity extraction sector is less certain and will depend on the current consumption trend and on the budget discussion.”