National industry
Industrial production increases 0.5% in February and accumulates the second high in a row
April 01, 2020 09h00 AM | Last Updated: April 03, 2020 10h04 AM
Brazilian industrial production grew for the second consecutive month, showing an increase of 0.5% in February compared to January, according to the Monthly Survey of Industry (PIM), released today (1) by the IBGE. January's industrial activity was revised up from 0.9% to 1.2% compared to December, accumulating 1.6% growth in the first two months of 2020, on this basis of comparison.
“It is the second increase after the main drop in the last two months of 2019; however, the balance of this period is still negative, as the results of November and December accounted for -2.5%”, comments the survey manager, André Macedo.
Among the 26 types of industrial activity surveyed, 15 showed positive results. The highlights are motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (2.7%) and other chemicals (2.6%), both growing for the second month in a row. Food products (0.6%), pulp, paper and other paper products (2.4%), pharmaceuticals (3.2%) and rubber products and plastic material (2.1%) also contributed for this month results.
“Car and trucks are partially responsible for this result at the beginning of the year, after last year’s loss. There was the collective vacation period in November and December, and with the return of production in the first months of 2020, the growth drive was to be expected”, explains Mr. Macedo.
Among the activities that had reduced production, the main one was coke, petroleum products and biofuels, which stopped three months of increase and dropped 1.8% in February. Computer equipment, electronic and optical products (-5.8%) and other transportation equipment (-8.7%) also had a negative impact in the industrial production in February.
For Mr. Macedo, the coronavirus pandemic may have influenced the production fall in the computer equipment section. “Some sections may have been influenced by the Chinese situation, especially those related with imported raw material and international trade, which is the case in technology”, he analyzes.
Among the four major economic categories surveyed, two presented increase: capital goods (1.2%) and intermediate goods (0.5%). Durable goods and semi-durable and non-durable goods dropped 0.7% and 0.2%, respectively.
Comparison with 2019
In relation to the same month of 2019, the industrial production fell 0.4%, which represents the fourth consecutive month with negative results in the comparison between years. However, February had the lower drop in the period. Thus, the cumulative index of January and February of 2020 against the same period of 2019 is -0.6%. The cumulative index of the last 12 months in the industrial production reported a decrease of 1.2%.
