Construction and industry recovered in April and grew by around 5%

In April, construction grew by 5.4% compared to March, while industry grew by 5%, INDEC reported this afternoon.

The Ministry of Economy pointed out that construction is only 3.3% below the high of December 2017, while industry is 9.2% above the level of April 2019.

In April 2022, the construction activity summary indicator (ISAC) increased 8.8% year-on-year and seasonally adjusted series increased 5.4% monthly.

In this way, construction is 31.3% higher than in February 2020. In the first quarter of 2022, the business accumulated growth of 3.1% compared to the same period in 2021, 76.7% compared to the same period in 2020 and 5.3% compared to the same period in 2019.

In the month the sales of 12 of the 13 inputs surveyed increased year-on-year. Shipments of Rest (38.9% yoy; including seamless pipes, glass and faucets), iron and round steel for construction (27.0% yoy) and drywall (16.3% yoy) ) have driven growth. The only declining input was hollow brick (-5.1% year on year).

there was also an increase in expectations. In the survey accompanying the INDEC report, 40.4% of companies dedicated to private construction believe that activity will increase in the May-July 2022 quarter, compared to 34.5% in the previous quarter.

For their part, 38.4% of companies dedicated to public works believe that activity will grow in the quarter May-July 2022, compared to 32.9% in the previous period.

The April Industrial Manufacturing Production Index accelerated year-on-year growth to 4.7%, after climbing 3.7% year-on-year in March. Therefore, it records the third consecutive increase e accumulates in the first four months of the year a growth of 4.0% year on year.

In April, manufacturing activity recovered from the 4.9% decline recorded in March. With this data it is 12.6% above the pre-covid level of February 2020 and only -2.9% of the high of September 2017.

In April, 11 of the 16 sectors grew year-on-year. The largest increases occurred in Other means of transport (49.1%), Clothing, leather and footwear (40.4%) and Motor vehicles (25.1%)

Conversely, they recorded a year-over-year decline and reversed the rise of the previous month Basic Metals (-21.9%), Tobacco (-17.5%), Textiles (-5.7%) and Products in metal (-1.7%), plus the decline in Other equipment, appliances and tools (-6.8%).

AQ