National industry
Industrial output falls 1.2% in November after three increases in a row
January 09, 2020 09h00 AM | Last Updated: January 09, 2020 03h17 PM
The industrial output of Brazil declined 1.2% in November in comparison with October, interrupting three positive months in a row. It is the worst November since 2015, when the industry edged down 1.9%, according the Monthly Industrial Survey, released today (January 9) by the IBGE. From January to November, the index accumulated a drop of 1.1%; in 12 months, it retreated 1.3%. “The decrease stated in November eliminated an important share of the achieved growth from previous months, with 16 out of the 26 surveyed categories decreasing”, says the survey manager, André Macedo.
One of the major negative influences was the sector of motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (-4.4%). “Although it is usual that the vehicles production increases in September and October and then decreases in the end of the year, due to the collective vacations”, explains Macedo.
Another production with great influence in the fall was the food sector (-3.3%), eliminating almost all the expansion from the previous month (3.6%). “The growth has been leveraged due to the exports of meat and production of sugar. Meat keeps in expansion, but sugar is more volatile, due to climate conditions and ethanol demand, which is also produced from sugarcane”, says the survey manager.
Mining and quarrying industry also decreased expressively (-1.7%), accumulating a retreat of 4.6% in three consecutive months. More relevant negative contributions were other chemicals (-1.5%), machinery and equipment (-1.6%), maintenance, repair and installation of machinery and equipment (-5.7%), pulp, paper and other paper products (-1.8%), non-metallic mineral products (-1.8%) and basic metal (-1.1%).
Among the major economic categories, durable goods had the sharpest retreat, 2.4%, mainly leveraged by the lowest production of motor vehicles. It lost, though, great part of the gain (3.9%) accumulated in the period from September to October 2019, but grew 0.7% against the same period in the previous year and had a cumulative gain of 2% from January to November.
Regarding semi-durable and non-durable goods, despite the fall of 0.5% in relation to October, it advanced 1.1% in relation to November 2018, accumulating a high of 0.8% in the year. The performance was explained, mainly, due to the expansion noticed in the group of food and beverages for domestic consumption (1.9%), leveraged, mainly, by the highest production of concentrated orange juice, beer, draft beer, frozen poultry and giblets, soft drinks and bread.
Although all the major economic categories recorded negative results in November, only intermediate goods had a negative performance in the cumulative of the year until November (-2.2%). The segment decreased 1.5% in relation to previous month and 2.8% in comparison with November 2018, reflecting, especially, the fall noticed in the mining and quarrying sector.
And finally, capital goods had the highest retreat comparing November 2019 with the same period in the previous year (-3.1%). The major influences in this result were the decrease noticed in the group of transportation equipment (-4.8%), under the pressure, mainly, of the lowest production of tractor truck for trailers and semi-trailers, vessels for passengers or cargo transportation (including tankers and platforms), trucks and trailers and semi-trailers (including for agricultural use). In relation to previous month, the fall was of 1.3%. Nevertheless, in the cumulative of 11 months of the year, the sector held a positive rate (0.2%).
