In January, German industrial production rose by 0.6% M/M, while the consensus was looking for an increase by 1.0% M/M. The previous figure was however upwardly revised from -2.6% M/M to -1.0% M/M. Looking at the details, manufacturing & mining rose by 0.9% M/M and energy by 8.8% M/M, while construction fell by 14.3% M/M. The improvement in manufacturing was due to a 3.3% M/M increase in intermediate goods, while capital (-1.0% M/M) and consumer (-0.1% M/M) goods dropped. After a weak fourth quarter, German industrial production is rising again at the start of 2010, despite the coldest winter weather in 14 years, raising expectations that growth might pick up again in the first quarter of 2010.