Ministry: Processing industries key production drivers in May

MOSCOW, Jun 24 (PRIME) – The processing industries were the key growth driver of Russia’s industrial output in May, the Economic Development Ministry said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The Federal State Statistics Service said that Russia’s industrial output grew by 11.8% on the year but contracted by 2.1% on the month in May.

“The low base of the previous year, when quarantine restrictions started hitting economic activity and the April 2020 agreements of the OPEC+ came into force, still have the main impact on the annual indicators. As compared with May 2019, Russia’s industrial output grew by 2.9%. As compared with the pre-pandemic levels, or with the fourth quarter of 2019 excluding the seasonality factor, industrial output showed an increase of around 1.4% in May,” the statement read.

The processing industries were the driver expanding by 11.4% on the year and 6.3% as compared with May 2019 in May 2021. The industry outperformed the pre-pandemic level by 2.7%, and production in all processing sectors in May 2021 outperformed noticeably the levels of May 2020 and May 2019.

The chemical and metallurgical sectors were the leaders, while the timber, light, food, and machine-building sectors also showed growth, the ministry said.

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