LatinNews Daily - 9 October 2024

*Argentina’s national statistics institute (Indec) has released data on construction activity and industrial production in August, showing a year-on-year decrease of 26.4% in construction and a yearly drop of 6.9% in industrial production. These annual decreases are larger than those registered last month, with construction registering a yearly decline of 20.4% and industrial production dropping 5.4% in July. In monthly terms, construction decreased by 2.9%, whereas industrial production was up by 1.5% on the previous month. In the construction sector, all 13 categories registered annual declines, with the largest yearly drops in granite and limestone slabs (-51.2%) and bathroom ceramics (-40.5%). Eight of the nine categories in the industrial manufacturing production index decreased in August compared to the previous year. The largest drops were registered in wood, paper, editing & printing (-17.8%) and non-metallic minerals & basic metal (-16%). Food, drinks & tobacco was the only category to register a yearly increase (+1.4%). In the first eight months of the year, construction registered a decrease of 30.3% compared to the same period of 2023, while industrial production registered a decline of 13.6%.