Argentina’s January industrial production expanded 10.3% over a year ago

Thursday, February 17th 2011 - 02:35 UTC

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Another record for the car industry is anticipated

Argentina's industrial production in January continued to expand at a quick pace, led by strong output of machinery and equipment, food, non-metallic minerals and chemicals, a local think tank reported Wednesday.

Argentina's industrial production index expanded 10.3% in January from a year ago and was up 0.5% on the month, according to Orlando J. Ferreres & Asociados, or OJF.

The index has fully rebounded from the steep drop seen in 2009, and is expected to continue to rise in the next month, OJF said.

However, manufacturing is running into bottlenecks, and energy shortages, particularly during the cold winter months, are causing problems.

“Growth is expected in 2011, but this is mainly due to a statistical carryover from 2010, more than genuine expansion in industrial production,” OJF said.

Vehicle production is expected to hit a new record this year again. Almost 47,000 automobiles were manufactured in January, with expectations for production of over 800,000 this year, OJF said.