LatinNews Daily - 8 November 2024

*Argentina’s national statistics institute (Indec) has released data on construction activity and industrial production in September, showing a year-on-year decrease of 24.8% in construction and a yearly drop of 6.1% in industrial production. These annual decreases are smaller than those registered last month, with construction registering a yearly decline of 26.4% and industrial production rising 6.9% in August. In monthly terms, construction increased by 2.4%, whereas industrial production was up by 2.6% on the previous month. In the construction sector, all 13 categories registered annual declines, with the largest yearly drops in bathroom ceramics (-47.4%) and granite and limestone slabs (-44.2%). Seven of the nine categories in the industrial manufacturing production index decreased in September compared to the previous year. The most significant drops were registered in non-metallic minerals & basic metals (-16.6%) and metal products, machinery and equipment (-14.2%). Food, drinks & tobacco registered a yearly increase (+6.9%), as well as furniture and other manufacturing industries (+0.9%). In the first nine months of the year, construction registered a decrease of 29.5% compared to the same period of 2023, while industrial production registered a decline of 12.7%.