Decline in Wood Production Drags Down Industrial Production Index
A new contraction in the manufacturing industry once again marked the performance of the Industrial Production Index (IPI) in November 2025, with a strong impact coming from the timber sector, according to data published this Tuesday by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
In the eleventh month of the year, the IPI recorded a year-on-year variation of -0.8%, explained by the negative impact from two of the three sectors that make up the indicator. Among them, the Manufacturing Production Index (IPMan) was one of the main contributors, posting a decline of 1.3% over twelve months.
The manufacturing decline was led by wood production and the manufacture of wood and cork products, which showed a year-on-year decrease of 17.0%, becoming the activity with the greatest negative impact for the period. This result subtracted 0.756 percentage points from the overall index variation, reflecting the difficulties faced by the forestry-industrial chain, which is key for several regions of the country.
Sector analysts point out that this decline is due to a combination of lower domestic demand, production adjustments, and tighter market conditions, factors that have particularly impacted sawmills and the wood processing industry.
Adding to the weakness of the manufacturing sector was the performance of the Mining Production Index (IPMin), which also retreated 1.3% year-on-year, due to lower activity in metallic mining, which fell 4.3%, subtracting 3.769 percentage points from the indicator.
The positive counterpoint came from the Electricity, Gas and Water Production Index (IPEGA), which grew 2.4% compared to November 2024. The increase was driven by the electricity sector, which advanced 2.2%, with a positive impact of 1.666 percentage points.
Despite this favorable performance by the energy sector, the sharp contraction in the wood industry is once again raising alarms about the state of one of the country's productive pillars, whose evolution will be key for industrial performance in the coming months.
