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Industrial production in India, France, and Malaysia advances; Spain declines

Industrial Production in India, Malaysia and France advanced by 6.8% year-on-year, 7.5% and 1.9% respectively in February this year while production in Spain declined by 5.1%.

India Industrial Production
India's index of industrial output (IIP), the key measure of industrial output, grew at 4.1 per cent in February 2012. The IIP number for January 2012, earlier reported at 6.8 per cent, was revised significantly downward to 1.1 per cent. The cumulative growth for the period April-February 2011-12 stands at 3.5% over the corresponding period of the previous year.

Data showed that manufacturing which accounts for about 76 per cent of industrial output , grew at 4.0 per cent and electricity at 8.0 per cent over the corresponding period in the previous year. Mining registered 2.1 per cent growth. Capital goods, which are equipment used in manufacturing, recorded growth of 10.6 per cent while consumer goods fell 0.2 per cent.

Within the consumer goods segment, durables fell 6.7 per cent from the corresponding period last year, suggesting a large drop in demand. Consumer non-durables grew 5.1 per cent. India's core sector which contributes almost 38 percent to industrial production grew by a sharp 6.8 percent in February from a year earlier, much higher than January's on-year increase of 0.7 percent. The core sector comprises the key infrastructure industries of coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement and electricity.

Malaysia Industrial Production
Malaysia's industrial production increased by 7.5% on an annual basis in February, sharply faster than January's revised 0.3% increase. Industrial output increased at a significantly faster pace in February, data released by the Department of Statistics showed Tuesday. Production in the mining and quarrying sector rose 1.9% annually, while manufacturing output climbed 9.4%. There was an 11.3% annual growth in the production of electricity during the month. On a monthly basis, industrial production advanced a seasonally adjusted 9.1% in February, the agency said.

France Industrial Production
France industrial production rose a seasonally and working-day adjusted 0.3% month-on-month, after increasing 0.2% in January, revised down from the 0.3% preliminary figure. Production increased for the second consecutive month in February and the growth came in slightly above expectations, data released by the statistical office showed on Tuesday. Manufacturing output, however, declined for the third month in a row. In February, factory output fell 1.2%, following a 0.1% drop in January, which was revised from a 0.2% growth, reported earlier.

Spain Industrial Production
Industrial production in Spain fell 5.1% in February on an annual basis, the national statistics office reported on Wednesday. That compares to a 4.3% fall, revised down from 4.2%, in January. On a monthly basis, industrial production fell 3% against a 2.5% drop in January. The statistics office said all industrial sectors, outside of energy, showed monthly drops in production, and all 12 autonomous communities recorded negative production in February. The data come as Spain is in the spotlight over deficit and economic worries. Yields for Spain's 10-year government bond were steady on Wednesday at 5.94%, but a day prior jumped 19 basis points, edging closer to the closely watched 6% level.