ARGENTINA - In May, the “Wood and furniture products” sector was the worst performer according to the SME Industrial Production Index (IPIP), which measures the monthly performance in production of small and medium-sized industries in Argentina.

The information is obtained based on direct surveys conducted among 300 industrial SME’s in the country belonging to 11 sectors and is prepared by the Argentine Confederation of Medium-sized Enterprises (CAME).

While the “Food and beverages” and “Electro-mechanical and computer products” sectors showed signs of recovery, the "Wood products and furniture" sector registered in the month of May a drop in production of -20.4% against the same period of the previous year. According to the respondents, the decrease is due to the reduction in the orders of furniture for the home and office and of the export orders.

In the IPIP average, that considers the 11 sectors, the production of industrial SME’s fell by 6.5% in May compared to the same month of last year and 3.7% when compared to April. Although the retraction continues to be important, a certain deceleration was observed from the high negative rates recorded in previous months.

Another encouraging sign was the amount in May of the proportion of industries with increases in their production, which rose to 39.2%, the highest value in 12 months. The use of installed capacity also rose to 58% and 30% of the companies surveyed have planned or are considering making new investments this year.