Industry bounces back in September, managers not optimistic in regards to industry's smooth recovery

The industry in Romania has bounced back, after four months of weak activity, but, on the other hand, managers do not seem convinced that the recovery will be smooth and even in the following period, according to the Industrial Barometer's data, published on Monday. 

On the production segment, the quoted source shows that the number of new orders has recovered more strongly than the production volume. Thus, they left the negative area of 49 points in August, going up to 59, in September. 

Exports orders that had dropped in August to an index of 47, the lowest level of the past 12 months, also climbed back in September to 54. "The advance is important because it signals the passage from shrinkage to growth, but the leap is relatively weak and is bellow the historic average of 57 points of the last three years," the cited data read. 

Furthermore, the import of raw material has gone up at a faster pace than exports. After registering a score of 51 in August, they reached 62 in September. 

As regards the work force, the Industrial Barometer reveals the fact that the number of employees has come out of the 44-point compression and bounced back to 50, which signals a balance between expansion and contraction. "With race exceptions, personnel movements in the industry are characterized by relatively low-range drops and then comebacks to the initial level, without significant or uninterrupted expansion periods in the number of employees. This lingering is explained by the lack of large-scale investments and by the labor market's lack of flexibility," the press release specifies. 

In regards to costs and income, if on the first segment they went up from 67 to 70 points in the expansion area, with the volume of production and imports of raw materials, the prices charged by the companies even reached the highest level of the last three months, from 57 in July, to 60 in September. Under these circumstances, the index remains, for now, close to the average of the first eight months of the year. 

The managers' optimism index went up to 60 points in September, from 56 in August. However, the score is way below the average of the first eight months (64 points).