OREANDA-NEWS. Industrial output growth slowed down slightly, from 10.9 % y/y in January-August to 10.7% in January-September (15.8% in January 2007). This growth is still much higher than over 9M2006 (5.6%). In September 2007, industrial output grew by 8.4%, y/y, a decrease by 0.1% m/m. The largest contribution to industrial output was made by the metallurgy industry (24.4% share in 2006) with growth figures of 10.5% for January-September, y/y, albeit slightly slower than in January-August (11.3% y/y). Engineering companies (accounting for about 12.9%) experienced very high growth, 24.9% for January-September 2007, y/y, higher than what it was in January-August 2007 (23.9%).

According to Millennium Capital's analysts, the decreasing tendency of industrial output that continues from January 2007 was expected; however, the growth in 2007 is much higher than in 2006. What is also important is a remarkable (accelerating) growth in the engineering sector. "The monthly growth rate of industrial output was slightly higher than we expected (8.2%), so we keep our forecast for industrial output growth at 9.3% for 2007. According to our estimates, real GDP growth was 7.4% y/y in 9M2007 and is expected to be 7.3% in 10M2007," the analysts infer.