A survey of the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on the situation and prospects of industrial companies during the fourth quarter of 2021, published on Saturday, has revealed a great vagueness that marks, for more than a year, the opinions of industrialists on the evolution of their workforce due, according to them, to the great uncertainty surrounding the job market.

The same source reports a stable balance of opinion on the general situation of the industrial sector during the fourth quarter of 2021, with a slight drop in the balance on the general situation expected during the first quarter of 2022.

As for the level of industrial production, this survey points to a modest change in the balance of opinion in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the third quarter of the same year, with an expectation of stability in the first quarter of 2022 compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.

The INS also reports an increase in the balance of opinion on the level of demand for industrial materials in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the third quarter of the same year, with an expectation of stability in the first quarter of 2022.

Regarding the level of external demand, the survey showed an increase in the balance of opinion and this is expected to continue in the first quarter of 2022.

On another level, a leap was noted in the percentage of firms that said they were having difficulty sourcing raw materials with an expectation that their prices would rise.

The survey recalls that the percentage of companies reporting difficulties in the first half of 2020 reached 59.4%, the highest percentage in the last three years. Marketing difficulties and declining demand were the most frequently mentioned difficulties until the fourth quarter of 2020.  From the first quarter of 2021 onwards, these difficulties became less important in the face of the difficulty of obtaining raw materials.

The industrial managers interviewed also mentioned an improvement in the rate of capacity utilisation of their companies since the beginning of 2021 compared to the low levels recorded in 2020, but this utilisation still remains below the usual levels.

// Sectoral evolution of industrial production

With regard to the sectoral evolution of industrial production, the balance of opinion for the fourth quarter of 2021 is up for the chemical, mechanical and electrical industries and stable for the manufacturing and building materials, ceramics and glass sectors. In contrast, the balance of opinion has declined for the textiles, clothing and leather sector and the food and beverage sector.

For the first quarter of 2022, the survey shows a slight improvement in the balance of opinion for the textile, clothing and leather industries, while the balance of opinion for the agri-food, chemical and building materials, ceramics and glass industries has fallen.

Source: Tap News Agency