UPDATE - Turkey: Industrial production up for 10th month in row

UPDATES WITH REMARKS BY INDUSTRY AND TECHNOLOGY MINISTER, ECONOMIST

By Gokhan Ergocun

ISTANBUL (AA) - Industrial production in Turkey expanded by 0.1% month-on-month in February and 8.8% annually, the country’s statistical authority said on Tuesday.

The index has been posting monthly increases since May 2020 and rising annually since June 2020, according to data by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).

On a monthly basis, by sub-sectors, mining and quarrying index was down by 2.3%, while manufacturing and electricity-gas-steam-air-conditioning supply indices increased by 0.2% and 0.8%, respectively, in February.

Annually, mining and quarrying, and manufacturing indices rose by 15.9% and 9.3%, respectively, while electricity-gas-steam-air-conditioning supply index posted a decline of 0.8% in the same month.

According to an Anadolu Agency survey on Thursday, a group of 10 economists' expectation for Turkey's calendar-adjusted industrial production index was an increase of 9.04% on an annual basis – ranging between 5.7% and 12.42%.

The term "calendar-adjusted" is used to refer to data without calendar and holiday-originated effects.

In January, the adjusted and unadjusted industrial production indices were up 11.4% and 7.5%, respectively.

Mustafa Varank, the Turkish industry and technology minister, said despite troubles in global supply chains, upward trend in industrial production has continued.

He said Turkey is one of the G-20 countries which raised annual industrial production mostly.

Enver Erkan, the chief economist at investment company Tera, said: "Even though industrial production shows a fluctuating pattern in January and February, the growth trend continues."

Touching on leading indicators of the country, such as retail sales and turnover indices, exports, and manufacturing PMI, which are strong, he underlined that all these factors support the overall economic growth outlook and add weight to predictions of good growth in the first quarter of the year.