Between shortages and inflation, industrial production is suffocated. For the second month in a row, it fell in the euro zone by 0.2% in September compared to the previous month, after falling 1.7% in August, according to data released Friday, November 12 by Eurostat. Numerous bottlenecks limit the proper functioning of factories: shortage of microprocessors, lack of containers, port congestion… The phenomenon, particularly marked in Germany, risks seriously slowing down economic recovery.
The shock is particularly severe in the automotive industry. On November 3, Volvo reported that its exports to China had fallen by a third and its sales to Europe by 21% due to “A lack of available cars”. Due to a lack of spare parts, and in particular electronic chips, the factories are idling.
1er November, Skoda, a division of the manufacturer Volkswagen, announced a reduction in production, again because of this lack of microprocessors. Since June, Mercedes-Benz has been limiting the options available on its new models. As a result, some LED headlights, wireless battery chargers and audio systems are no longer on sale. Henry Ford’s famous adage, launched in 1909, is back: “A customer can have a car of any color, as long as it is black. “
High inflation
In total, the firm AlixPartners estimates that the lack of chips is expected to reduce international automobile production by 7.7 million units. “For Germany, where [ce secteur] account for 6% of the gross domestic product, it is the equivalent [d’une baisse] 0.5% of GDP “, notes the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
The first country in the euro zone is indeed the most affected by the problem. Industrial production there fell by 1.1% in September, and is now 9.5% below its level before the Covid-19 pandemic, notes Katharina Koenz, of the Oxford Economics firm.
The prices of goods leaving Chinese factories rose 13.5% in October year-on-year, their biggest increase in a quarter of a century
France is also affected: industrial production fell by 1.3% in September, and is 5.2% below what it was before the health crisis. Here too, transport equipment recorded a significant drop. Italy, another large industrial country in the euro zone, resisted better, with a very slight increase (+ 0.1% in September). Likewise, Spain is relatively unaffected.
You have 46.07% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.