Production down in January, data shows

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkey’s mining sector industrial production was down 2.2 percent year-over-year, but was up 0.4 percent in the manufacturing sector, fresh data by TÜİK reveals. Hürriyet photo

Turkey’s industrial production was up 1.5 percent year-on-year in January 2012, but was far below the market’s 4 percent expectation, according to the data released yesterday by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK).

“The 15 percent monthly drop in industrial production when compared to the same period in previous years shows that the slowdown in the index is sharper than in the past,” read a Vakıfbank note to investors yesterday.

Industrial production in the mining sector was down 2.2 percent, but was up 0.4 percent in the manufacturing industry. Industrial production in electricity, gas, steam and the air conditioning supply sector was up 9.6 percent in same period. The calendar-adjusted industrial production index was down 1.3 percent and seasonal and calendar-adjusted industrial production decreased 3.1 percent year-on-year in January 2012.

Minister admits to cooling

Turkey’s Science, Industry, and Technology Minister Nihat Ergün said at a meeting in the northwestern province of Bursa yesterday that the data signalled that Turkey was slowing down a tad from last year.
“We were going at 120 kilometers per hour and now we will go at 90 kilometers per hour, but we will still reach our destination” said Ergün.

Ergün added that this was something that the government had been expecting and had made its 4 percent growth prediction accordingly when devising its medium-term economic strategy.