Industrial output rises 4.5% in first 10 months

HA NOI (VNS)— The nation's industrial production increased 4.5 per cent in the first 10 months of this year compared to the same period last year, announced the General Statistics Office (GSO).

The figure represented a slight slowdown from the 4.7-per-cent growth in industrial output recorded in the first eight months of this year, and was about half of the rate of growth seen in 2011, said GSO economic expert Vu Quang Ha.

The slowed growth rate was mainly due to low consumer demand, high inventories of unsold goods, and a reduction or temporary halt in production by some enterprises, Ha said. Inventory indices alone in the first 10 months of the year were at 20.3 per cent, he noted.

The production fell 16.2 per cent for motor vehicles, 9.9 per cent for garments, and 7.1 per cent for cement.

However, some industrial products managed to achieve increases in production. Production surged 76.2 per cent for batteries, 59.4 per cent for shipbuilding and components, 51.6 per cent for telecommunications equipment, and 21.2 per cent for electronic components. Sugar production also rose by 15.2 per cent.

Among specific industries, electrical generation and distribution grew by 12.8 per cent during the 10-month period, while crude oil production grew by 12.1 per cent, water supply and treatment by 8.7 per cent and the mining industry by 3.8 per cent.

The manufacturing and processing industries accounted for 70 per cent of the total industrial production. — VNS