Slovak industrial sales increased for the fifth month in a row in January 2014 albeit at a weaker pace than in December, data from the statistics office showed. Sales in the first month of 2014 increased by 4.3%, easing from a revised growth of 5.8% y/y the month before.

The January increase was underpinned mainly by a 8% rise in the manufacturing sector and a 7.1% hike in water supply sector. Sales in the mining sector also edged up by 0.2% y/y, while the utilities sector posted an 11.2% drop.

The auto manufacturing sector (which accounts for more than a quarter of total industrial sales) reported a 13.9% annual growth in January, slowing down from a revised 26.6% y/y in the previous month. Sales of computers, electronics and optics (another important driver of the country’s export-oriented industrial sector) rose by 15.8% y/y, following a revised 9% annual decline in December.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, the industrial sector turnover in January rose by 1.5% m/m, following a 3.2% decline in the previous month.

IntelliNews comment: Despite the fact that Slovakia’s industrial sales grew at a weaker pace in January, we expect the growth to strengthen in the next months helped by a stronger foreign demand. Slovak industrial sales rose 0.5% y/y in 2013, easing from a 6.2% expansion in 2012 mainly due to faltering demand from abroad. Last year, the sales of computers, electronics and optics fell by 4% y/y, while the automotive industry posted a 5.9% annual growth.