Russian industrial production fell 1.5% in Dec, grew 1.0% in year - Rosstat
MOSCOW. Jan 23 (Interfax) - Russian industrial output fell 1.5% year-on-year in December, the Russian State Statistics Service (Rosstat) said.
This followed 3.6% decline in November.
The December drop was greater than the 0.5% decline that analysts predicted in a consensus forecast for Interfax and came about partly because December 2017 had one working day less than December 2016.
Adjusted for seasonal and calendar factors, output grew 0.4% in December after it fell 1.4% in November, 0.2% in October and 0.6% in September 2017.
Industry grew 1.0% in 2017 as a whole. It grew 1.3% in 2016. The FY 2017 growth was in line with the forecast by analysts but way below the 2.0% that the Economic Development Ministry predicted.
Output fell 1.7% year-on-year in Q4 after growing 1.4% in Q3, 3.8% in Q2 and 0.1% in Q1.
Output in the extractive sector fell 1% year-on-year in both December and November and 0.1% in both October and September. The December decrease was due mainly to a 2.2% year-on-year drop in oil production. Oil production fell due to the fulfillment of the OPEC+ oil production cut agreement as well as the fact that oil companies ramped up output a year previously just before agreements with OPEC came into effect. In the year as a whole, extractive output grew 2.0%, after rising 2.6% in 2016.
Manufacturing output fell 2.0% in December and 4.7% in November after rising 0.1% in October and 1.1% in September. This grew 0.2% in 2017 and 0.5% in 2016.
In utilities, which are highly exposed to seasonality, output in distribution of electricity, gas and steam fell 5.5% in a mild December after falling 6.4% in November and 2.1% in October. Output grew 0.1% in FY 2017 and 1.7% in 2016.
Output in water supply and waste-water disposal fell 4.2% in December, 5.7% in November and 1% in October. It fell 2.8% in FY 2017 and 0.8% in 2016.
The analysts said in the consensus forecast, carried out at the end of December, that they thought industrial output would rise 2.2% this year.
The Economic Development Ministry says in its baseline scenario, which the government approved in September, that industry might grow 2.5% this year.