Finnish industrial output rose 2.8 per cent in March from a year earlier in of spite the coronavirus outbreak with chemicals surging, data from Statistics Finland showed on Friday.
However, new manufacturing orders fell by 9.3 per cent in the same period.
“Corona impact is likely to be seen in Finland’s industrial production in April.
“Regardless, this is good news,” Markku Lehmus, head of forecasting at the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy Etla wrote on Twitter.
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Lehmus said that in nations such as Germany, industrial production had collapsed already in March.
On Thursday, data showed that German industry output plunged 9.2 per cent in March, its fastest decline since current records began in 1991.
“Seasonally adjusted industrial output grew most in the forest industry, by 39.6% from February to March, main thanks to recovery after strikes in February.
In the chemical industry, output grew by 23.8 per cent in March from the previous month, partially due to demand caused by the corona epidemic, especially in the pharmaceutical industry,’’ Statistics Finland added.
However, judging by exports, which are vital for Finland’s economy, the outlook for the Finnish economy was gloomy.
“The value of Finnish exports decreased by 8.8 per cent while the value of imports decreased by 6.1 per cent in March year-on-year, resulting in the trade balance being 270 million Euros in deficit in March.
“In the first quarter from January to March, new manufacturing orders in Finland fell 5.6 per cent year-on-year,’’ the Statistics office said.