Argentine industrial activity registered a catastrophic decline of 9.4% in 2024

Published at: 07/02/2025 08:40 PM

The National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INDEC) of Argentina, this Friday, February 07, reported that industrial activity accumulated a 9.4% drop in 2024, according to the website Page 12.

It stands out that this is the worst brand since the catastrophic year 2002, when manufacturing declined a record of 10.6%. The spillover of 2024 was the industrial balance of the megadevaluation combo and subsequent chainsaw and blender, added to the exchange rate appreciation in the second half of the year and the opening of trade.

He points out that in December, activity showed the first improvement compared to the same period in 2023, of 8.4%. This result marks a change in trend, since since May 2023 there have been declines in the year-on-year comparison.

The improvement, however, has a strong statistical component, since in December 2023, at the dawn of the libertarian government, the fall in industry was 12.9%, meaning that this is a very low point of comparison. For the same reason, it is likely that over the next few months there will be improvements in the year-on-year period.

In the monthly comparison, December recorded a slight improvement of 0.2% compared to November, implying a slowdown compared to 0.7% in November compared to October. In short, a disastrous year is coming to an end for the industry, which in any case showed relatively stable behavior in recent months.

In the case of food and beverages, the year-on-year increase in December was 8.3%. The main positive impact is reflected in the milling of oilseeds, which showed a year-on-year increase of 77.6% in December.

The preparation of fruits, vegetables and legumes increased 17.9% year-on-year in December and beef production registered a year-on-year increase of 12.8% in December. Meanwhile, the production of dairy products registered a year-on-year increase of 5.4% in December, while the production of yerba mate, tea and coffee increased by 16.0%.

The cumulative figure for the year shows a 0.8% drop in food and beverages, thanks to the positive effect of the 2023 drought. At the subsector level, fruits and vegetables fell 7% in the year, as did dairy products. In non-alcoholic beverages, the annual decline is 12%.

The manufacture of machinery and equipment registered a year-on-year increase of 31.3% in December. The manufacture of agricultural machinery constitutes the main positive impact in the month, while the manufacture of general-purpose machinery registered a year-on-year increase of 20.4% in December, due to the increased commercialization of air conditioning equipment, refrigerators and industrial ovens, among others.

On the other hand, the cumulative figure for the year in machinery and equipment shows a drop of 18.6%, with especially strong losses in agricultural machinery, special machinery and household appliances.

In the automotive sector, production increased by 10.1% in December, while the auto parts subsector saw an improvement of 4.5%. But in twelve months, the sector shows a decline of 11.3%, with auto parts falling to 2.9%.

Meanwhile, the textile sector registered an improvement of 1.4% in December, driven by the preparation of fibers for textile use. But in 12 months, the sector, affected by the collapse of the domestic market and the opening of imports, fell by 17.1%. In the case of garments, the year-on-year increase of 20.6% in December contrasts with the 6.2% drop in the year.

For its part, the steel industry achieved a year-on-year increase of 2.8% in December, following the improvement in the subdivision of metal smelting. But the cumulative figure for 2024 marks a drop of 17.5%, also affected by the negative trend of the domestic market.

The report points out that industries associated with construction activity fell both in December and in the cumulative amount of 2024. In the last month of the year, they fell 13.9% compared to the same period in 2023, as a result of declines in glass, clay, lime and gypsum products and cement products. Meanwhile, the cumulative figure for the last twelve months shows a drop of 24.3%.

After the almost absolute cut in public works and the decline in private works, construction was on the rocks, unemployment increased in the sector and the production of inputs, which are those measured by INDEC, was also severely affected.