Six points above the level of 2019. The double-digit growth compared to the same period of 2020, still penalized by the Covid emergency, is not so much to give the measure of the leap forward of the Lombard manufacture between July and September. Rather, the absolute level reached in relation to the pre-crisis period, level (118.2) which, moreover, updates the all-time high of the index, already reached last quarter, surpassing the previous top of 2008 (113).
From the data of Unioncamere Lombardia a positive picture emerges from several points of view, with growth that embraces almost all sectors. Strength of demand which in the present generates a robust use of plants, over 75% but which also in perspective does not lose strength, guaranteeing on the basis of the orders collected 76 working days, close to the all-time high, ten days more even than the 2019. Production linked to the market and not carried out for precautionary purposes to reinforce the warehouses, as evidenced by the red balance of the responses of the companies: both for finished products and for stocks of materials, signs of scarcity prevail over the reports of surpluses. Scarcity that begins to “bite” on production activity while on the side of margins the new pressure posed by the effect on the price lists of factors is evident, with the values of raw materials estimated to increase by 11 points compared to the previous period, after a similar surge between April and June.
The strength of demand, however, continues to generate work, with the employment balance in surplus of three decimal places, positive for the third consecutive quarter, while in parallel the share of companies in the Cig returns in line with pre-pandemic levels.
While the price effect (estimated at 14 points on finished products) is certainly driving revenues (+ 17.5%), the growth in demand is also in terms of volumes, witnessed by a higher jump in orders, in order by 20% both on a national and cross-border basis.
If the overall picture is positive, there is no shortage of criticalities on the supply side. In fact, the insured working days could also be the result of an accumulation of back orders due to bottlenecks in the supply chains. And even the mass of incoming orders, for the same reason, may not immediately translate into real production.