In April, euro zone industrial production dropped for a second consecutive month, but at a somewhat slower pace than forecast. On a monthly basis, industrial production fell by 0.8% M/M, while the consensus was looking for a drop by 1.2% M/M. The previous figure was upwardly revised from -0.3% M/M to -0.1% M/M. The details are however less encouraging as production of capital goods (-2.6% M/M), non-durable consumer goods (-1.6% M/M), intermediate goods (-1.2% M/M) and durable capital goods (-0.9% M/M) all dropped in April.
Sharp declines in those sectors was offset by a rebound in energy production, which rose by 6.9% M/M. National details show that the weak spot was based in Portugal (-6.5% M/M), Germany (-2.0% M/M), Italy (-1.9% M/M) and Spain (- 0.7% M/M). In the Netherlands (2.9% M/M), Ireland (1.8% M/M), France (1.5% M/M) and Greece (0.3% M/M) production rose in April. Regardless the stronger headline figure, the details are poor as broad-based weakness was partly offset by stronger energy production, due to a weather-related rebound.
Confidence indicators suggest that also the outlook for May remains poor.