The Netherlands' industrial production contracted for the second straight month in February, largely due to a sharp fall in chemical output, figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.
Industrial production fell 2.0 percent year-on-year in February, after a 2.3 percent decline in January, which was the first decrease since March 2021.
Although total manufacturing output contracted, about 3 out of 5 business classes produced more in February than in the same month a year earlier, the agency said.
The chemical industry had the largest negative contribution of 20.9 percent, followed by rubber and plastic with an 11.7 percent fall.
On the other hand, the production in the machine repair and installation segment increased 8.7 percent, while the transport equipment industry experienced the highest growth, rising by 15.7 percent yearly in February.
On a monthly basis, industrial production increased a seasonally and working-day adjusted 0.4 percent in February.
Industrial entrepreneurs were more positive about the expected activity and less negative about their stocks of finished products.
