Romania’s industry keeps contracting in January, barometer shows

The industrial activity in Romania recorded the second consecutive month of contraction in January, when the barometer carried among local managers for estimating the dynamics of the production volume returned a score of 42 points out of 100, with the 50 point level indicating stagnation.

The score increased by 2 points versus December 2019, according to the barometer conducted by IRSOP and the Faculty of Management of the National School of Political and Administrative Sciences (SNSPA), quoted by Ziarul Financiar.

“The score remaining in the contraction area demonstrates the extremely weak capacity of the demand to stimulate growth in the industry, at the beginning of the year,” the Industrial Barometer report concludes.

The score that shows the dynamics of new orders also remained in the contraction area (42 points) in January.

The export orders managed to partially recover after the December crisis, rising from 32 in the last month of 2019 to 51 points in January.

At the same time, the dynamics of production costs accelerated sharply from 64 in December 2019 to 72 in January 2020.

Analysts believe that low activity and prolonged underemployment of employees contributed to increased costs.

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