Industrial production in France fell by 2.1% m/m during May

Industrial production in France in May 2024 fell by 2.1% compared to the previous month after an increase of 0.6% m/m in April. This is evidenced by the data of the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Research of France.

French industrial production over the past three months (March-May) decreased by 0.6% compared to December-February, and by 0.4% compared to March-May 2023.

The production of basic metals and finished metal products, in addition to machinery and equipment, fell by 3.1% m/m in May, while in April this figure was unchanged compared to the previous month. In the mining industry, the indicator fell by 2.2% m/m after growth of 1.9% m/m in April. Production in the construction industry fell by 1% m/m compared to 1.1% m/m a month earlier.

«In the context of high electricity and gas prices, energy-intensive industries are particularly vulnerable to rising production costs, which affects their production volumes. Thus, production over the past three months has fallen sharply in the steel, chemical, glass and paper industries, «the report said.

Recall that in May 2024, steel enterprises in France increased steel production by 36.4% compared to the previous month – up to 1.09 million tons. Compared to the same month in 2023, steel smelting by French metallurgists in May 2024 increased by 34.5%. According to the results of January-May, steel production in France increased by 6.6% compared to the same period in 2023 – to 4.43 million tons.