The production of the SME manufacturing industry it increased 4.8% in February compared to the same month last year, at constant prices, as revealed by the Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (CAME). Compared to January, tit also had a positive variation, which reached 1.2%.
The use of installed capacity of the companies in the sample fell slightly, to 71.7%, that is, 0.9 percentage points below January. It is the second month where production growth is combined with less use of facilities, a phenomenon that is explained by higher levels of investment in different industrial sectors, especially in Food and Beverages.
????The SME industry grew 4.8% annually in February. Compared to January, it also had a positive variation of 1.2%.
The use of installed capacity of the companies in the sample decreased slightly, to 71.7%
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— CAME (@redcame) March 19, 2023
This February was greatly affected by cost increases. Delays in the deliveries of inputs by suppliers and doubts by some companies when accepting new production orders, for fear of failing to comply with delivery times, are among the patterns observed. Some firms also advance the manufacturing stock. For exporting companies, customer demands on deadlines and costs generate uncertainty.
Analysis by sector
The best performance in the annual comparison, in February, was in Wood and Furniture (+9.2%) and the worst occurred in paper and printing (-7%). Of the six sectors measured, four ended with growth and 2 with declines in production.
Production increased 8.1% annually in February and 2.8% monthly at constant prices. In this way, it accumulates a development of 6.6% in the first two months of the year. The use of installed capacity fell from 80.1% in January to 73.5% in February, being one of the sectors with the most investment. There was good demand and the companies stated that they might not take all the orders due to lack of production capacity and human resources to expand the offer.
“We are producing at an optimal level, we hope that in the coming months we will continue like this”said the owner of a company in the city of Malagueños, in Córdoba, dedicated to the production of alfalfa in bales, mega-bales and pellets.
“We have more demand than we are able to cover, we need to expand our production capacity,” was the response of a businesswoman dedicated to the manufacture of industrial baked goods in the city of Santiago del Estero.
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