Regional industry
Brumadinho's disaster leads to decrease in ES and MG industries
April 09, 2019 09h00 AM | Last Updated: April 11, 2019 01h40 PM
Industrial production in Espírito Santo and Minas Gerais declined 9.7% and 4.7%, respectively, in February, compared to January. Those were the biggest drops identified by the Regional Survey of Industry, published today by the IBGE.
According to research analyst Bernardo Almeida, the result in the two states was mainly due to the reduction in the production of iron ore, after the dam broke down in the Corrégo do Feijão, a brook in Brumadinho (MG), on January 25.
"The accident caused production setbacks both in Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, a neighbor state which was also affected. The fall was sharper in the industry of Espírito Santo, because there was also decrease in the production of oil and petroleum derivatives. Moreover, the state industry is less diversified than the mining industry, " he adds.
Of the 15 places surveyed, there was increase in nine and decrease in six states, which led the country's industry to grow 0.7% in February. The industry of São Paulo, which accounts for about 34% of the domestic production, grew by 2.6% in February compared to January, the largest expansion since June 2018, when it had registered 13.7%.
"The result was driven mainly by the increase in car production, which made the industry of São Paulo go back to a higher level, observed in August last year," explained the researcher.
In addition to São Paulo, in February, Bahia, 6.5%, Northeast Region, 6.2% and Pernambuco, 5.9%, Mato Grosso, 1.7%, Amazonas, 1.5% , Rio de Janeiro, -2.1%, Rio Grande do Sul, -1, and Paraná, 1.1%, Ceará, 1.1% and Santa Catarina, 0.5%, while Goiás, -2.6%, Rio de Janeiro, -2.1%, Rio Grande do Sul, -1.4% and Pará, -0.1%, completed the set of places with falls.
