Ukraine industry grows 2% in September, led by utilities, machinery

Ukraine’s industrial output rose 2.0% yoy in September (vs. 3.4% in August), led by utilities (5.0% yoy, 4.9% in August) and machinery (4.5% yoy, 1.8% in August), according to state statistics released on Oct. 21. For 9M16, industry grew 2.0% yoy. Growth in chemical production slowed to 4.8% yoy (12.4% yoy in August) and decline in mining strengthened to -5.4% yoy (-1.7% in August). Metal output contracted 0.6% yoy from 5.0% growth in August.

Alexander Paraschiy: Sectoral tendencies remain volatile, though industry is generally developing in line with our expectations. We observed some signs of iron ore and metal prices accelerating in October in what should translate into stronger industry statistics over the upcoming months. However at the moment, we do not know for how long this improvement might be sustained. Against this backdrop, we still are keeping our initial forecast for industrial growth unchanged at 2.0% yoy for 2016.