Cyprus industry up for first time in 17 months

Industrial production in Cyprus rose for the first time in 17 months in March, according to the latest figures from the Statistical Service.
The index of industrial production rose by 6.1% over the year earlier to 102.6, with manufacturing up 5.6%, mining and quarrying up 24.9% and water supply and materials recovery up 37.3% (after the drought).
Only electricity supply showed a decline, dropping by 2.7% over March 2009.
Within manufacturing, electrical equipment surged ahead, rising by 42.9% compared with March 2009.
Chemical and pharmaceuticals also staged a recovery, rising by 12.4% and paper and paper products rose by 15.7%.
In January – March 2010, the index recorded a decrease of 0.2% over the same period of the previous year.

Meanwhile, industrial output prices in April rose by 0.5% compared with March 2010. The manufacturing prices index rose by 0.4% in the same period.
For the period January-April 2010, the index rose by 1.8% over the corresponding period of the previous year.