In September, industrial production declined by 5.6% y/y compared to contraction of 5.4% y/y in August and 4.9% y/y in July, the State Statistics Service has announced. In m/m terms, industrial production weakened by 0.4% improving from decline of 2.5% m/m seen in August. In Jan-Sep, industrial production shrank by 5.2% y/y.

In particular, mining and quarrying in September decreased by 1.4% m/m, and grew by 1.4% y/y. The volume of the processing industry in August increased by 0.5% m/m and contracted by 10.3% y/y. Manufacture of food products, beverages and tobacco rose by 6.1% m/m (down by 12.8% y/y), the volume of light industry increased during the month by 5.9% (down by 4.7% y/y). Manufacture of coke, refined petroleum products in September fell by 5.8% m/m (down by 2.9% y/y).

Manufacture of chemicals and chemical products declined during the month by 10.3% (down by 19.7% y/y), rubber and plastic products went down by 5.5% m/m (down by 7.8% y/y). The volume of steel production in September decreased by 2.6% m/m (for the year – 5.2%), machinery for the month rose by 2.1% (for the year - a decline of 16.2%).

Industrial output reduced by 1.8% in 2012, compared with 2011.

The government forecasts industrial production to grow by 8-9% over 2013-2014. The increase in production of chemical and petrochemical industry will be mainly achieved by an increase in the production of mineral fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus), taking into account the favorable conditions in foreign markets and prices, as well as organic chemistry products (production of organic acids, amino acids, biopolymers ).