Expectations for the third quarter indicate that there will be no variations

Net electricity generation in Argentina fell 9.1% during the second quarter of 2019

With regard to self-generated energy in mining and manufacturing, an increase of 7.7% was observed during the second quarter of the year

The electricity sector suffered a setback in Argentina during the second quarter of 2019. The net generation of electricity from the National Interconnected System, which does not include the generation used as input in the production process of power plants, registered a decrease of 9, 1% during the second quarter of the current year, with respect to the same period of the previous year, according to the report Indicators of the Energy Sector , corresponding to the second quarter of 2019, prepared by the Ministry of Finance of Argentina in conjunction with the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses.

When asked about their expectations for the third quarter of 2019, regarding the same period of 2018, 50% of the companies belonging to the sector declare that they do not expect a variation in domestic demand, while 33.3% estimate that it will decrease and 16.7% believe it will increase. All the firms consulted believe that they will not export during the third quarter. Regarding investment expectations in the sector, 83.3% of companies expect to make investments during the said quarter, while 16.7% consider that they will not invest. 

Autogeneration in mining and manufacturing

With regard to self-generated energy in mining and manufacturing, an increase of 7.7% was observed during the second quarter of 2019 compared to the same period of the previous year, 6.6% being the increase in mining and 9.1% in the manufacturing industry. 

The difference in the behavior of self-generated energy in mining and manufacturing is due to the increase of 8.3% of the energy dispatched to the Wholesale Electricity Market (MEM) and 5.8% destined for self-consumption in what refers to the self-generated energy in mining and to the increase of 282.5% of the energy dispatched to the MEM and 2.8% destined for self-consumption from self-generation in the manufacturing industry. However, total cogenerated energy in the manufacturing industry saw a 57.8% drop.

Oil and gas

Petroleum derivatives selected for the calculation of the Synthetic Energy Indicator (ISE), measured in equivalent tons of oil, as a whole presented an increase of 2.8% in the second quarter of 2019 compared to the same period of the previous year, considering mainly the behavior of products such as net diesel of power plants and net fuel oil of power plants. 

When asked about their expectations for the third quarter of 2019, compared to the same period of the previous year, 42.8% of companies believe that domestic demand will decrease, 28.6% that will increase and 28.6% that will remain stable. With respect to exports, 28.6% believe that there will be an increase, 28.6% believe there will be a contraction, 28.5% believe that they will not export during the quarter in question and 14.3% expect a period without changes . 

The gas sector also records negative numbers. The net delivered gas, which does not include the delivered to the power plants, experienced a 6.2% decrease during the second quarter of 2019 compared to the same period of the previous year. 

When asked about their expectations for the third quarter of the year, compared to the same period last year, 87.5% of companies say they do not expect variations, while 12.5% ​​estimate that there will be a decrease. On the expectations of exports, 25% believe they will increase, another 25% estimate that they will remain stable and the remaining 50% believe that there will be no exports during the third quarter of 2019.