Slovak Industrial Output Falls 2.9% in February as Druzhba Pipeline Disruption Hits Production

Slovakia's industrial production declined 2.9 percent year-on-year in February, ending a brief recovery following January's growth. The automotive sector and petrochemicals recorded the steepest declines, while chemical manufacturing, food production, and furniture sectors showed unexpected growth. Two exceptional factors drove the overall decline: a disruption to the Druzhba oil pipeline, which supplies Russian crude oil to Central European refineries including those in Slovakia, and unfavorable year-on-year comparisons due to strong performance in February 2023. The pipeline outage particularly affected Slovakia's petroleum refining capacity, contributing to the negative industrial output figures.