UPDATE - Industrial output up 3.5% as exports rise more, domestic sales drop less

Hungary’s industrial output rose 3.5% yr/yr in November according to both adjusted and unadjusted figures, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said on Friday, as export growth accelerated and domestic sales dropped less than a month earlier. New orders were down yr/yr.

Export sales rose 4.5% yr/yr in November after a 1.0% rise in October and domestic sales fell 1.4% from twelve months earlier after dropping 6.2% in October.

The 3.5% rise in industrial output followed a 3.0% yr/yr increase in October.

All output figures were unchanged from the preliminary figures published on January 6.

Seasonally and workday-adjusted output was up 4.2% m/m in November after dropping 0.8% in October and rising 3.9% in September. Export sales rose 4.4% in November after declining 0.3% in the previous month. Domestic sales were up an adjusted 3.4% from a month earlier after dropping 3.4% in October.

In a breakdown by market segment, manufacturing sector output was up 3.4% year-on-year in November.

All but three of 13 manufacturing branches expanded in the twelve months to November. Of the biggest branches, output of computer, electronics and optical products fell 14.6%. The segment, which accounts for more than one-sixth of manufacturing industry output, registered a decline for the eight month in a row.

Output of vehicle manufacturing increased, in contrast, 10.7% yr/yr, boosted by the road vehicle manufacturing segment. This segment accounts for 20% of manufacturing sector output. Output of the food, beverages and tobacco segment, which makes up 10% of the sector’s output, was up 4.3%. Output of the machine and equipment manufacturing segment climbed 41.5%. Output of the chemical products segment rose 4.3%. The pharmaceutical segment registered its second best performance this year, with output growing a steep 30.2%.

Exports of the computer, electronics and optical segment, which accounts for almost a quarter of manufacturing industry exports, fell 11.1%. Exports of the vehicle manufacturing segment, which accounts for more than 25% of the sector’s exports, were up 12.4% year-on-year in November.

Industrial output rose 5.6% yr/yr in January-November. Export sales were up 7.7% in the period and domestic sales fell 4.9%.

Hungary’s industrial output rose 10.6% in 2010 after dropping 17.8% in 2009. Export sales volume rose 16.9% in 2010 after a 18.8% decline in 2009. Domestic sales fell 3.0% in 2010 after a 12.5% drop in 2009.

Output per employee at businesses with a staff of at least five rose 1.6% in January-November from the same period a year earlier, including the effect of a 3.7% rise in headcount.

New orders of manufacturing sector companies were down 7.3% in November from the same month a year earlier. New export orders fell 7.9% while new domestic orders declined 3.4%.

Total stock of orders held at the end of November was up 4.3% in volume terms from a year earlier as export orders rose 6.6% but domestic orders were still 15.7% lower than at the end of November 2010.