In March, the Argentine industry exhibited a notable recovery, marking its first year-over-year increase in nine months, with a rise of 5%. According to the Industrial Production Index published on Thursday by the statistics institute INDEC, activity experienced an increase of 3.2% relative to the preceding month. This favorable data mitigated the declines that Argentina’s industrial sector experienced at the beginning of the year. From January to February, there was a cumulative decrease of 6% relative to the corresponding period in 2025. With the March data, that decline has been reduced to a mere -2.3%. “The still-negative quarterly cumulative figure confirms that recovery is uneven and still fragile,” stated economist Tomás Americo. Under President Milei, local industry has faced a significant downturn in activity, influenced by the erosion of purchasing power and the liberalization of imports — a dual impact that has severely affected a sector traditionally oriented towards the domestic market. From November 2023 — the month Milei took office — through March 2026, the IPI, as measured by INDEC, indicates a 4% decline, characterized by notable disparities across sectors.
In March, the sector that exhibited the most robust growth was tobacco products, which experienced a 28.2% increase, primarily fueled by the processing of tobacco leaves. Subsequently, chemicals and chemical products experienced a notable increase of 15.9%. Nonetheless, a significant portion of this was attributable to a weather-related event that transpired in March 2025. On March 7, floods in the city of Bahía Blanca, recognized as the nation’s petrochemical hub, resulted in a disruption of the natural gas supply, leading to the cessation of operations at the primary petrochemical plants. Consequently, the output of fundamental chemicals declined by 31.8% relative to March 2024. Additionally, oil refining experienced a significant increase of 13.5%, propelled by the Vaca Muerta boom, while the wood, paper, publishing, and printing sector saw a rise of 12.8%, attributed to the commencement of the school year.
The report indicated significant declines. The textile industry experienced a decline of 23.3% in March, contributing to an overall decrease of 27.1% for the year to date, driven by competition from imported goods and a reduction in domestic consumption. Clothing, leather, and footwear experienced a decline, registering an 8.9% decrease in March. Machinery and equipment manufacturing encountered a comparable decline, decreasing by 11.3% in March, primarily driven by reduced output in agricultural machinery (−14.7%), as well as washing machines and refrigerators (−16.2%). The basic metal industries experienced significant challenges, reflected in a 10.1% decrease in the overall average for March, while the steel sector saw a more pronounced decline of 14.7% during the same period. The Argentine Chamber of Steel recently issued a warning regarding subdued domestic demand and the pressures of imports, particularly from China, the leading steel producer globally. The automotive industry experienced a year-over-year growth of 7.6% in March, driven in part by a 10.4% increase in exports to Brazil during the same timeframe.
However, vehicle manufacturing has experienced a decline of -13.0% throughout this year. In a parallel development, agricultural machinery production has experienced a decline of 26.8% in 2026, indicating a slowdown in investment within the agricultural sector. Conversely, an uptick in construction activity spurred growth in various industrial sectors relative to March 2025: cement increased by 13.6%, cement and plaster products rose by 12.3%, and wood and wood products surged by 25.8%. This Thursday, reports indicated that the construction sector demonstrated a significantly more robust recovery. The sector demonstrated a 4.7% growth on a monthly basis and recorded a 12.7% increase year-over-year, reinforcing the recovery it has exhibited since the lows of the previous year. “The [industrial] sector continues to experience fluctuations between gains and setbacks, failing to establish a consistent growth trajectory. “The normalization of credit could become one of the factors that finally unlocks that dynamic,” said Santiago Casas.