As for the year that has just begun, it will be a time for Latvian industry to overcome the consequences of last year's global and regional setbacks. It is expected that the growth rate will be very similar to 2019, which is to say, very modest. In the timber sector market, the balance will gradually be restored, but the crisis will not end before the end of the year. News is arriving that our companies' competitors in countries with higher wage costs are starting to "give in". Unfortunately, there is a risk that insect infestations will continue in the forests of Central Europe, which would mean another flooding of the market with sawn timber. Since the beginning of 2019 was still quite successful, the overall result for 2020 in timber processing is likely to be worse than last year. The performance of food processing over the past two years has been so weak that it seems it could not get any worse, but one can never be certain. A more detailed overview of the outlook for the metal sectors in 2020 will follow in a month's time, in a commentary on the industrial data for the whole of last year. However, based on a very preliminary assessment, growth could be around 5%, more than twice the average for the manufacturing industry, but less than in 2019.