Page 42 - RusRPTApr21

Among major sectors of industry, utilities was the clear driver in February – it posted a 7.4% y/y increase due to a much colder winter this year. Output in the manufacturing industry was down 2.4% y/y, while the mining sector showed the largest decline (-8.9% y/y).
Industrial output was significantly affected by cuts to crude oil production. According to Rosstat, oil output fell by a massive 13.5% y/y last month. Other growth laggards included metallurgy (-3.2% y/y) and the food-processing industry (-2.2% y/y). On the positive side, in February, natural gas output jumped 5.1% y/y, pharmaceuticals were up 28.1% y/y, production of textiles increased by 16.2% y/y and the automotive industry was up 10.8% y/y (car production rose 6.3% y/y).
Construction and agriculture were the only sectors of the economy to register growth in 2020, Rosstat said as cited by the Moscow Times. Industrial production fell by 2.9% in 2020. Retail sales slumped by 4.1% due to the nationwide lockdown last spring. Unsurprisingly, the consumption of paid services fell the sharpest, registering a 17.3% drop over the year.
But industrial production sustained the recovery momentum in February. Industrial production (IP) contracted 3.7% y/y vs. a decline of 1.9% y/y in January due to the deterioration in both mining and quarrying (-8.9% y/y vs. - 7.4% y/y in January) and manufacturing (-2.4% y/y vs. -0.2% y/y in January).
The two segments were affected by the calendar effect (there was one less day in 2021 vs. 2020) and the high base effects of 2020. Cold weather pushed electricity, gas, steam and AC production higher (+7.4% y/y vs. +8.7% y/y in January).
Accounting for base effects and seasonal factors, IP continued to rebound after its January decline on a SA m/m basis. Within the manufacturing sector, investment goods (fabricated metals production, electrical machinery, motor vehicles and other transport equipment) performed best. Elsewhere, construction was flat (0% y/y) and agriculture showed moderately positive results (+0.6% y/y), while transportation only declined 0.7% in February vs. a 2.1% y/y decline in January following the improvement in pipeline transit volumes.
The improvement in production indicators was also reflected in producer confidence, which has improved significantly over the past three months in manufacturing and in mining and quarrying (e.g. medical products, textile and clothing, beverages, non-metallic mineral extraction, coal mining, motor vehicle production, trailers, chemicals and plastic production).
42 RUSSIA Country Report April 2021 www.intellinews.com