China Producción Industrial

China's industrial production grew by 4.5% year-on-year in March 2024, much softer than a 7% growth in January-February combined and below market forecasts of 5.4%. It was the softest expansion in industrial output since last September, due to weaker rises in all activities: manufacturing (5.1% vs 7.7% in Jan-Feb), utilities (4.9% vs 7.9%), and mining (0.2% vs 2.3%). By industries, production moderated for computer and communications (10.6% vs 14.6%), textile (2.5% vs 6.6%), oil and natural gas mining industry (1.5% vs 3.0%), non-ferrous metals (11.2% vs 12.5%), cars (0.9% vs 9.8%), and chemicals (9.1% vs 10.0%). Simultaneously, general equipment production stalled after rising 4.1% in the previous period, while coal, mining, and washing contracted (-1.6% vs 1.4%). On a monthly basis, the industrial output edged down by 0.08%. For the first quarter of the year, industrial output expanded by 6.1%.