UPDATE - Industrial exports up 2.8% in July

Hungary's industrial exports rose 2.8% year-on-year in July, after slipping 0.6% in June, a second reading of data published by the Central Statistics Office (KSH) on Thursday show.

Domestic sales declined 9.3% year-on-year in July, compared to a 6.4% fall in June.

Industrial output rose a workday-adjusted 2.7% year-on-year in July, up from a 1.0% rise in June, KSH said. The headline figure in the second reading was the same as the one in the preliminary report published on September 7.

Unadjusted output was up 0.3% after a 1.4% drop in June.

Seasonally- and workday-adjusted month-on-month output edged up 0.8% in July after falling 0.6% in June.

Industrial output was up 7.0% in January-July from the same period a year earlier. Export sales rose 10.0% in the period and domestic sales were down 5.1%.

In a breakdown by market segment, manufacturing sector output was up 0.2% year-on-year in July.

Seven of the 13 manufacturing branches expanded. Of the biggest branches, output of computer, electronics and optical products declined a steep 23.2%. The segment, which accounts for close to one-seventh of manufacturing industry output, registered a decline for the fourth time since November 2009. Output of vehicle manufacturing increased 10.5%.

Sustained growth in the segment is also reflected by new orders data in the segment. This segment accounts for more than 20% of manufacturing sector output. Output of the food, beverages and tobacco segment, which makes up more than one-ninth of the sector's output, was down 3.3%, largely due to declining domestic sales.

Output of the machine and equipment manufacturing segment climbed 56.6%. Output of the chemical products segment rose 15.5%. Output of the pharmaceutical segment declined 32.3% due to temporary plant shutdowns in the summer.

Exports of the computer, electronics and optical segment, which accounts for 20% of manufacturing industry exports, fell 15%, declining for the fourth month in a row. Exports of the vehicle manufacturing segment, which accounts for more than 25% of the sector's exports, were up 11% year-on-year in July. The two branches account for almost half of industrial exports.

Hungary's industrial output rose 10.5% in 2010 after dropping 11.8% in 2009. Export sales volume rose 16.4% in 2010 after a 18.8% decline in 2009. Domestic sales fell 2.9% in 2010 after a 12.5% drop in 2009.

Output per employee at businesses with a staff of at least five rose 2.1% in January-July from the same period a year earlier, including the effect of a 4.7% rise in headcount.

New orders of manufacturing companies were down 7.6% in July from the same month a year earlier. New export orders fell 8.0%, while new domestic orders were down 4.4%.

Total stock of orders was up 9.9% from the same month a year earlier.