Uruguay: Industrial production growth jumps to an over five-year high in April
Industrial production growth again accelerated in April, picking up pace from the previous month’s 12.3% year-on-year increase to a 22.7% surge. The result marked the third consecutive month of growth, and the strongest expansion in over five years. As in the previous month, the print partly reflected a base effect due to a marked contraction in industrial production in April 2017.
Nevertheless, industrial production excluding the contribution of the La Teja refinery, the country’s only oil refinery and a major contributor to overall production, fell 1.4% in annual terms in April. The figure was nevertheless an improvement from the previous month’s 7.8% contraction. April marked the sixth consecutive month of industrial production decline when excluding the contribution of the refinery. Meanwhile, the annual average change in industrial output including the contribution of La Teja refinery continued to improve, from minus 8.0% in March to minus 5.3% in April.