The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday made February’s index of industrial production (IIP) down 16.8 percent against the previous month, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

 

However, the IIP rose by 10.3 percent compared with the same period last year, driven by processing and manufacturing (up 12.8 percent), electricity production and supply (10.9 percent), and water supply and waste-sewage treatment (7.2 percent).

 

In the first second months of 2019, the IIP is estimated to increase by 9.2 percent year-on-year, lower than the growth rate of 13.7 percent of the same period last year.

 

The central province of Thanh Hoa led the nation with IIP growth of 46.7 percent in the period, thanks to the Nghi Son oil refinery company. It was followed by the central province of Ha Tinh with 46.2 percent, driven by operations of the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Company.

 

Decreases were reported in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and the northern province of Hoa Binh, at 3 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively, due to falls in the former’s crude oil exploitation and power output of the latter’s Hoa Binh Hydro-Power Plant.

 

The capital city of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City reported IIP rises of 6.2 percent and 6.1 percent, respectively. 

 

According to the GSO, the number of labourers working in industrial firms recorded on February 1, 2019 increased by 2.3 percent, in which state enterprises reported a fall of 0.3 percent in the number of labourers, non-state enterprises reported an increase of 2.3 percent and foreign-invested enterprises up 2.7 percent.-VNA

 

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