ISTAT. In August, decrease in sales (-7.6%) and orders (-8.9%) of pharmaceutical products

In August it is estimated that the turnover of the industry, net of seasonal factors, will increase by 5.9%, continuing the positive dynamics recorded since last May. On average for the June-August quarter, the overall index grew by 35.9% compared to the previous three months.

Orders also recorded a cyclical increase in August, larger than that of turnover (+15.1%); in the average of the last three months they marked a leap of 47.3% compared to the previous three months.

The cyclical trend in turnover reflects positive trends on both markets, but is supported above all by the domestic market for which a variation of +7.3% was recorded; the increase in the foreign market, although not negligible, stands at a more contained 3.0%. Orders are driven by both components, the foreign one to a greater extent than the domestic one (+15.6% and +14.7% respectively).

With reference to the main groupings of industries, in August the seasonally adjusted turnover indices show cyclical increases of 9.8% for consumer goods, 7.7% for intermediate goods and 0.9% for capital goods; energy is the only grouping to record a decrease (-1.8%).

Corrected for calendar effects (there were 21 working days as in August 2019), total turnover decreased in trend terms by 3.8%, with drops of 2.2% on the domestic market and 7.0% on the foreign market.

With reference to the manufacturing sector, the furniture sector and other manufacturing industries recorded the most marked trend growth (+16.9%), followed by the electrical and non-electrical equipment sector (+7.1%), while the pharmaceutical industry and refineries show the biggest declines (-7.6% and -29.2% respectively).

In trend terms, the raw index of orders increased by 6.1%, with increases on both markets (+6.8% the domestic one and +5.3% the foreign one). The greatest trend growth is recorded in the computer and electronics sector (+24.2%) and for means of transport (+22.9%), while the worst results are found in the chemical industry (-4.5%) e in the pharmaceutical industry (-8.9%).