manufacturing industry production sme rose 2.4 percent in March of 2023 compared to the same month last year, at constant prices, according to a report prepared by the Argentine Confederation of Medium Enterprises (Came).
However, in comparison with February of this year, activity remained unchanged. Although the Came survey highlights that “demand remains firm for now, there are companies that doubt that this rate can be sustained in the coming months if costs do not stabilize.”
Also read: The SME industry grew 4.8% annually in February
“The SME industrial sector is manufacturing in a context of much uncertainty marked by macroeconomic instability and a productive scheme of import administration. Despite this, in the first quarter of the year, the industry accumulates an increase of 5.2 percent compared to the same quarter of 2022, ”says the entity in its report.
The use of the installed capacity of the companies in the sample rose to 73.3 percent, that is, 1.6 percentage points above February (71.7%).
The highest levels were found in Paper and Impressions (82.4%), and llowest in Metal, Machinery and Equipmentand Transport Material, and Chemical and plastic products, both with 69.9 percent.
At the same time, there are sectors such as chemical, plastic or metal-mechanical producers, where investment dynamism surprises, almost decoupled from the situation. Most of these SMEs are financing themselves with their own resources, and they find that, in this context, the best option is to quickly reinvest the profits in the same company.
These results come from the SME Industrial Production Index (Ipip) prepared by Came, with a sample that reached some 384 SME industries at the federal level.
