As Argentina's Macri lifts statistical blackout, official INDEC data confirms a deep recession.

[forest444]

For the first time since Argentine Prosident Mauricio Macri decreed a data blackout just days after taking office six months ago, the INDEC statistics bureau published updates yesterday on the industrial and construction sectors - with both registering sharp declines.

Despite the Macri administration’s reiterated promises for a rebound for the second half of the year the economy continues to slump, official figures show. The industrial sector shrank 6.7% in April compared to the same month last year, accumulating a 2.4% decline in the first four months of the year. Construction, meanwhile, collapsed by 24.1% in April from the same time a year earlier, having already declined 10.3% so far in 2016.

The last data the INDEC bureau had released for either sector was for October 2015. Industry at the time had slowed by 1.7% after six consecutive positive months, while construction grew by 4.2%. Over 48,000 jobs were lost in the construction sector, INDEC data showed - nearly one third of the 155,000 lost since Macri took office.

The industrial recession was widespread, with the steepest declines registered in cement (23.6%), dairy products (20.9%), beverages (17.8%), machinery (17.4%), steel (16.9%), and beef (11.5%). The most significant increases, on the other hand, were in glass (17.4%), tires (7.3%), and textiles (6.8%).

Data related to construction materials had few bright spots, however. Sales declines for supplies such as asphalt (48.8%), concrete (27.6%), rebar (26%), and cinder blocks (25.7%) were the steepest since the depths of the 2002 crisis.

While Macri officials attempted to blame April's steep declines - the sharpest since 2002 - on heavy rainfall, most economists pointed to lower consumer spending and the austerity policies implemented by the Macri administration.

“The economic policies so far implemented led to a drop of the domestic market, making people consume less. The rain might have influenced some sectors like agriculture; but not all of them,” Mariano Kestelboim, chief economist at the University of Buenos Aires, told the Herald. “We are facing a similar macroeconomic scenario as Brazil. Consumption will continue to fall with people’s purchasing power.”

At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/215349/indec-reveals-severe-industrial-slump

[Ghost Dog]

1. Very significant numbers... Why the increased glass production?

¿The 'broken windows' economic paradox?

[forest444]

2. Ha! Maybe Macri just needs a new heart of glass.

Your broken windows theory is very à propos, Ghost Dog, since Macri always did hold Giuliani up as an example to follow (and Trump, btw).

In all seriousness, the most likely reason is because glass demand is in part a lagging indicator for construction activity.

When new buildings go up, concrete, steel, and rebar will typically be purchased first; it's only once the "skeleton" tops out that builders in Argentina will usually purchase all the glass.

Glass purchases as a result tend to reflect new construction trends from a year earlier or so, and 2015 was a strong year for construction in Argentina. There are, of course, other kinds of demand for glass (mostly consumer items); but they tend to be a lot more static.