Japan: November industrial production rose by 0.6% - Nomura

Analysts at Nomura note that Japan’s November industrial production rose by 0.6% m-m, roughly in line with the market consensus forecast (Bloomberg survey median) for 0.5% growth, indicating that manufacturing activity remained brisk.

Key Quotes

“We also view the 0.1% m-m decline in inventories, which showed fairly strong growth in October, as positive news in terms of production.”

“The survey of manufacturers' production forecasts announced alongside the November industrial production data points to a 3.4% m-m increase in December, which would put Oct-Dec industrial production up 2.0% q-q. While actual production often falls below production forecasts, adjusting for realization and revision ratios for production plans for the past three months still puts Oct-Dec production up 1.5% q-q, suggesting production will remain brisk this year.”

“Looking at adjusted Oct-Dec q-q growth by category, we see that accelerated production in processing industries is expected to contribute to growth, with production of general-purpose, production and business-oriented machinery up 3.3%, electrical machinery up 3.3% and transport equipment up 2.8%.”