Jan industrial output edges down 0.5%

Output rose a seasonally- and workday-adjusted 2.1% month-on-month in January, following a steep 7.3% drop in December, KSH said. The figure was the same as in the first reading.


Adjusted for workdays, output fell year-on-year for the first time since December 2009. The year-on-year drop in industrial output mainly reflected a fall in vehicle manufacturing and lower heating output as temperatures were unseasonably warm in January, KSH said. Output dropped from a high base.


Calendar year-adjusted domestic sales dropped year-on-year in January as they did every month since October 2010, while the adjusted export sales fell for the first time since November 2009. New domestic and export orders were down from a year earlier, but the overall order stock was up, the second reading of the data shows.


Domestic sales fell 1.2% year-on-year, according to the unadjusted figures, and were down 3.3% according to calendar year-adjusted data. Domestic sales fell 2.2% month-on-month in January.


Export sales rose an unadjusted 0.8% year-on-year, but fell a workday-adjusted 1.6%. Export sales were down 1.7% month-on-month.


In a month-on-month comparison, domestic sales have dropped since August and export sales have declined since September, with the exception of increases in November.


Within exports, vehicle manufacturing exports, which account for more than one-fourth of industrial exports, rose 4.3% year-on-year, while exports of computer, electronic and optical products, which account for a similar proportion of the total, fell a sharp 15.9%.


Domestic sales of the manufacturing sector fell 0.8% year-on-year in January.


Eight of the manufacturing industry's 13 branches registered rising output in January in an annual comparison, although vehicle manufacturing dropped 1.1%, falling for the first time since a big drop in activity October 2008, KSH said.


Output of computer, electronic and optical products manufacturing fell the most, by 17.8%, on declining demand for telecommunications and electronic consumer goods. Output of the food, beverage and tobacco industries climbed 13.2%.


New export orders fell 0.5% from a year earlier and new domestic orders were down 1.1%. Total new orders were down 0.6%, falling for the first time since July.


Total order stock was up 14.5% from a year earlier. Domestic orders climbed 1.3% and export orders were up 15.7%. Total order stock has risen year-on-year since the end of 2010.


Per capita output of industrial companies employing at least five people rose 0.7% in the twelve months to January as the number of employed fell 1.2% year-on-year.