Czech industrial output decreased by 0.4% year on year and increased by 0.6% month on month in April.

It follows a weak development in March, when industry fell by 2.7% y/y after a rise of 0.7% in February, which ended a three-month skid in industrial output.

“The total decrease was mainly affected by a lower production in the energy sector and an ongoing decrease in the manufacture of machinery and equipment and in the manufacture of basic metals,” commented Radek Matejka of the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO).

Production in electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply decreased by a tenth y/y amid the planned shutdowns in power plants, lower consumption of gas influenced by warm weather. Gradual phasing out of production in coal power plants – coal mining shrank by over one-fifth y/y – also contributed to the drop.

Manufacture of other transport equipment grew by almost a third. Growth was also registered in the manufacture of computers, electronic and optical products, repair and installation of machinery and equipment and other manufacturing.

The value of new orders increased by 3.6% y/y, with non-domestic new orders rising by 5.3% y/y and domestic ones by 0.8%.

“The increase was influenced the most by the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers,” stated Veronika Dolezalova, head of the Industrial Statistics Unit at CZSO, adding that “enterprises in the manufacture of other transport equipment obtained large or long-term orders.” CZSO also noted that the value of new orders in the manufacture of basic metals declined by almost a fifth y/y.

Czech construction also continued to decline y/y in April, although the pace slowed down significantly to 0.3% and m/m the output was up by 3%.

“The y/y decrease was moderated by the civil engineering construction, which increased by 3.2%,” Matejka noted. The approximate value of permitted constructions decreased by 16.5%, and the number of started dwellings climbed by 35.4% y/y. The number of completed dwellings decreased by 8.1%, CZSO highlighted.

The head of CZSOs’ Construction Statistics unit, Petra Curinova, stated that “the decrease in the approximate value of the constructions permitted in April took place in the segment of large constructions with a budget over CZK1bn.”