Manufacturing output continues to surge

TALLINN - Production output of industrial companies rose by 17 percent in May in comparison to the same month last year, shows data from Statistics Estonia, reports news agency LETA. This follows on the heels of an 18 percent April rise, against year earlier figures, in production. In May, export sales in manufacturing increased significantly, up by 46 percent.
Demand on the domestic market stays weak as domestic sales fell by 6 percent in comparison to the same month last year. Two thirds of the industrial production output was sold on the external markets in May.

The production volume in May exceeded the level of the previous year in most sectors. The growth in manufacturing was mostly affected by the sectors accounting for a bigger share - manufacturing of electronic products, where the production volumes increased by approximately one and a half times, and manufacturing of wood, where the growth was 27 percent.
Production volumes also increased significantly in some smaller sectors such as manufacturing of motor vehicles, metals, paper, plastic products, machinery and equipment and of other transport equipment, due to the increase in exports.
Rapid growth in production was partly caused by the low reference base of 2009, and this effect will affect the statistics until the end of 2010.

Production of food, beverages, clothing and metal products and repair and installation of machinery and equipment decreased in May.

Production of electricity increased by 65 percent in May in the year-on-year comparison; heating production was up by 19 percent. The increase in the production of energy was mostly pulled by a growing demand for energy, from the increased manufacturing activity as well as by a growth in the export of electricity.
In comparison to April 2010, the seasonally adjusted industrial production output in May increased by 2 percent in the industry as a whole, as well as in the manufacturing sector.