(Finance) – A rapid investigation of Confindustria study centre on the activity of large industrial companies found that almost one entrepreneur in two sees production dynamics at a standstill in March. Based on the data collected by the study, 47.5% of the sample of large industrial companies associated with Confindustria believe that production will remain stable in March. 41.3% of the sample instead reported an improvement in the level of production and only 11.2% a contraction. However, none of the companies included in the sample reported a significant drop in production, as already recorded in the February survey.
As regards the quarterly dynamics, the optimism of companies is growing: in the first quarter of 2024 the share of companies that expect a contraction in production is 22.7 points lower than that of the first quarter of 2023. Furthermore, it increased by 11. 1 point is the percentage of companies that see an improvement.
The data relating to the availability of labor however, it remains negative (-1.7%), not differing much from the values of the previous two months (-1.8% in January and -2.3% in February). The balance, however, still remains far from the values at the beginning of the series (-7.2% in March 2023). More favourable, however, is the balance between the share of companies that reported an improvement in conditions financial and that of those who reported a worsening, although remaining in negative territory (-0.1%).
The balances relating to the availability of are also negative materials (-1.6%) and the availability of installations (-1.4%). In March, the latter reached its lowest peak since the start of Confindustria’s survey of large industrial companies. According to the large companies of Confindustria, the dynamics of demand and orders will continue to be the main driving factor in production.
Finally, expectations for consumers are also improving production costs: the balance between the share of companies reporting a reduction and those reporting an increase goes back to -0.8%, from -8.5% in February.