Finland’s industrial production declined for the fifth straight month in March, figures from Statistics Finland showed Friday.
Industrial production fell a working-day-adjusted 4.5 percent year-over-year in March, faster than previous month’s 3.0 percent decrease. Production has been falling since November last year.
Production in the manufacturing sector dipped 4.8 percent in March from the previous year and mining and quarrying output tumbled by 25.0 percent. At the same time, utility sector registered an increase of 3.3 percent.
Month-on-month, industrial production dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.7 percent in March, after a 0.1 percent slight fall in February. It was also the fifth successive monthly decrease.
The capacity utilization rate in the manufacturing sector rose to 81.4 in March from 80.8 in the preceding year.
Separately, the statistical office announced that manufacturing new orders jumped 13.0 percent annually in March, reversing a 5.8 percent decline in the prior month. It was the first increase in three months.
Orders in the metal industry surged 14.3 percent in March from a year ago and that for chemical industry grew by 11.1 percent.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com