Eurozone industrial production fell by 1.4% month-on-month in December but still grew by 1.2% on a year-on-year basis. The month-on-month decline was largely expected as the recently published German and French figures were weak for December. It is easy to be downbeat about the prospects for eurozone industrial growth, as structural headwinds remain important. Natural gas prices are still more than three times as high in Europe as in the US, and cheap Chinese exports to Europe continue to grow at a strong pace. At the same time, European exporters still face higher import tariffs in the US. In the January business ... (full story)