The calendar adjusted industrial production index rose 4.9% y/y in February after rising 7.1% y/y in January, data of the statistics institute showed on Tuesday.

In unadjusted terms, industrial output, which grew 7.1% y/y in January, rose by 4.9% y/y in the second month of the year, beating the market consensus forecast of a 3.5% increase. Unadjusted manufacturing output increased 4.4% y/y in February after rising 7.4% y/y in January.

On a calendar & seasonally adjusted basis, industrial production declined 0.1% m/m versus the 1% m/m rise in the previous month.

On a calendar-adjusted basis, manufacturing output rose 4.4% y/y, the increase in intermediate goods production eased to 6.1% y/y in February from 9.4% y/y in the previous month while durable consumer goods output, which rose 2.8% y/y in January, recorded a 5.2% y/y expansion. Energy production increased 5.5% y/y in February after rising 3.3% y/y in January. Capital goods manufacturing output expansion slowed to 2.1% y/y from 6.4% y/y, TUIK data also showed.

Apparently exports supported industrial production in February. Turkey’s exports rose by 6.2% y/y to USD 13.15bn (market forecast: USD 12.47bn) in February, according to data of the statistics institute TUIK.  Exports increased another 4.3% y/y to USD 13bn in March, the Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM) said earlier this month. PMI data showed that manufacturing activity moderated in March. The headline HSBC Turkey Manufacturing PMI fell to 51.7 in March from 53.4 in February. March PMI was the lowest since August but it was still above its long-run trend level of 51.0. Also note that the manufacturing capacity utilisation rate (CUR) declined for a third consecutive month in March. The CUR fell to 73.1%, the lowest figure recorded since 72.7% in March 2013, from 73.3% in February.