The production of cars has managed to start, other fields are fading. The “old days” will not return this year

In May, industrial production was down more than 25 percent year-on-year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Month-on-month, industrial production grew for the third time in a row, this time by 5.7 percent.

“Developments within individual sectors have been diversified,” said Radek Matějka, Director of the Department of Statistics on Agriculture and Forestry, Industry, Construction and Energy of the CZSO. On the one hand, a number of sectors have approached pre-pandemic levels in terms of production volume, such as car production, on the other hand, some sectors are still losing out, such as the mining and metallurgical industries, he added.

In July, motor vehicle production was less than one percent lower year-on-year. In June, it lost more than 13 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, and in May it was lower by more than 45 percent.

The production of metal structures and metal products decreased by more than ten percent compared to last July, the production of machinery and equipment was lower by 9.3 percent and the production of rubber and plastic products by seven percent. On the other hand, production in other manufacturing increased by 7.7 percent, the production of paper and paper products was higher by 6.7 percent and the production of electricity, gas and heat and air conditioning also increased slightly.

“We expect industrial conditions to remain difficult in the coming months as well. The catching up to previous losses has stalled and has virtually come to a halt in some sectors. the rest of the year in the red, “commented analyst Vít Hradil from Raiffeisenbank.

The value of new orders fell by 3.6 percent year on year in July. “New orders from abroad fell by 1.6 percent, while domestic new orders fell by 7.8 percent,” statistics said.

The decline in imports again contributed to the higher surplus. The result was significantly affected by an increase in the surplus in motor vehicle trading.

Imports of goods decreased by 6.2 percent to 275 billion compared to last July. Exports were also lower, falling 1.1 percent to 288.4 billion.

Civil engineering fell

However, the coronavirus crisis is affecting the construction industry with a delay. In July, construction output fell by 10.4 percent year on year in real terms after a revised 11.8 percent decline in June. Building construction has deteriorated, including the construction of flats, offices or warehouses, as well as civil engineering works, which mainly include transport infrastructure.

According to analysts, the construction industry is reacting with a delay to the development of the entire economy, which is facing the effects of the coronavirus epidemic.

“The corona crisis hit the construction industry differently than, for example, industry. Order statistics looked very good even at the time of the biggest economic downturn, so companies in this sector tackled the lack of protective equipment and the ‘flight’ of foreign workers. to black numbers in the relatively near future, provided that there are no significant investment cuts in the economy, “said analyst Petr Dufek from ČSOB.

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