Uruguay: Industrial production shrinks in December
Industrial production dropped 3.8% year-on-year in December, contrasting moderate 0.3% growth in the previous month. December’s return to contraction reflected the trend of the entire year, with industrial production growth recorded only in two months of 2017.
Furthermore, industrial production excluding the contribution of the La Teja refinery, the country’s only oil refinery and a major contributor to overall production, swung from a moderate 0.2% expansion in November to a 4.7% contraction in December, the second-worst performance in 2017. As a result, annual average industrial output including the contribution of La Teja refinery continued to decrease, slipping further from minus 10.3% in November, to a record minus 11.1% in December.