According to private data, in July, industrial production fell by 2.9% compared to June and chains two consecutive months of retraction. Behind this slowdown is the lack of imported inputs which has already caused several plant shutdowns and threatens to slow the sector further in the remainder of 2022.

A FIEL report details that industrial activity it grew by 4.4% between January and July and is slowing down after the peak reached in April and May.

The paradox is that this happens at the same time that the sector has become a strong generator of white employment: 7,200 registered jobs were created in June.

An official report proves this the industry has 26 consecutive months of registered job creation and exceeds the positions of December 2019, the pre-pandemic period, by 86,000.

According to data from the Center for Production Studies (CEP-XXI), dependent on the Ministry of Productive Development headed by Ignacio de Mendiguren, the manufacturing sector reached a total of 1.22 million official workers, which represents the highest level in four years.

The effect of the lack

The recovery in employment will have to cope with plant shutdowns in the coming months. “Around August, the shortage of parts and parts in the automotive industry due to global logistical problems and access to foreign currency, have led to new stops in some terminals, while the conflict in the tire industry continues to drag on. For industrial activity as a whole Another slowdown in the recovery dynamics is expected“, anticipates FEDELI.

CAME also stressed that July was very complex because, in addition to the political uncertainty due to the changes in the economic cabinet, “SMEs had to face the aggravation of some problems that were already part of the situation, such as delays in supplying supplieslack of benchmarks, price increases which, among other things, hindered production this month.

The LCG advisory expectation is that the industry closes the year at a lower level than in 2021, with an average annual variation of about 4.5%. “Greater restrictions on imports due to the need to accumulate reserves, investment decisions that will continue to be postponed in a context of high economic instability and consumption that is difficult to drive strongly with the downward adjustment of real wages are all factors that give hope. a decrease in activity for the second half “.

Factories stopped

The shortcomings have already affected several sectors: from the automotive sector to the producers of agricultural machinery passing through the food sector.

In Córdoba, the Renault-Nissan tandem Santa Isabel factory has paralyzed its truck production line several times this year due to the shortage of tires in one case and of semiconductors in another.

The Dánica food factory, which produces margarine and condiments, also announced it a few days ago will suspend production at its Lavallol and San Luis factories from 31 August due to the lack of imported inputs “indispensable for production” More than 200 jobs are affected by this measure.

Bus, truck and tractor manufacturer Agrale is another company that announced this It will suspend production of tractors and vehicles until the end of the year. The company reported that it had set this stop on the basis of the impossibility of complying with the related payments to obtain supplies from abroad.

The Brazilian-born company has its factory in the city of Mercedes, in Buenos Aires, where 100 workers work.

AQ