Industrial production index rises 7.4% in April

The national index of industrial production (IIP) was estimated to rise 7.4% in April, reported the General Statistics Office (GSO) on May 1.

According to the GSO, in April, the IIP of the mining sector saw a drop of 5.6%, while that of the processing and manufacturing industry rose 11.1%, the electronic production and distribution was up 9.9%, and water supply and waste treatment increased 6.5%.

In the first four months of this year, the index increased 5.1% year on year, far below the growth recorded in the same time of 2016 but higher than the rise of 4.2% in the first quarter of 2017.

In Jan-April period, the processing and manufacturing sector’s production surged 9.2% and the water supply and waste treatment industry up 6.3%, while that of mining fell 9.7%.

A number of sectors enjoying a surge in the IIP included metal production (47.5%), metal product manufacturing (13.3%), weaving (12.5%) and engine vehicles (10.9%).

Meanwhile, industries experiencing slight IIP rises were food production and processing at 6.4%;medicine and pharmaceutical chemistry 4.5%; and electronic, computer and optical product production 4.2%.

The northern city of Hai Phong led the country in the IIP growth with 20.4%, followed by Thai Nguyen with 17.7%; Da Nang, 12.1%; Hai Duong, 9%;Binh Duong, 8%; and Dong Nai, 7.4%. Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi rose 7.1% and 5.9% respectively.

The GSO also revealed that the inventory index of the industry sector as of April 1 was up 12.7% over the same time in 2016.

Sectors with higher inventory than the country’s average included engine vehicle production at 158.9%, metal production 54.5%, beverage production 45.4%, non-metal product production (mostly cement) 39.7%, and paper and paper product production 32.8%.

(Source:VNA)