In the seasonally-adjusted series, the national industrial output retreated 10.9% in May 2018 over April, the steepest drop since December 2008 (-11.2%), reflecting the strike of truck drivers that affected the production of a number of operating units in Brazil. As a result, the production level returned to that close to December 2003, standing 23.8% below the record level reached in May 2011. In the seasonally-unadjusted series, the industry retreated 6.6% over May 2017, the most intense decline since October 2016 (-7.3%), interrupting 12 consecutive months of positive rates.

The industrial sector accrued an expansion of 2.0% in the first five months of 2018, a pace below that registered up to last April (4.5%). Having changed from 3.9% in April to 3.0% in May 2018, the cumulative index over the last 12 months pointed out a reduction in the growth pace and interrupted the upward trend started in June 2016 (-9.7%). The complete publication of the Monthly Survey of Industry - PIM-PF can be accessed on the right side of this page.

From April to May, 24 of the 26 industrial segments shrank

The industry's 10.9% decline in April had predominance of negative results, reaching the four major economic categories and 24 of the 26 sectors surveyed. Among the activities, the most relevant negative influences were marked by motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (-29.8%) and food products (-17.1%). Other significant negative contributions came from beverages (-18.1%), pulp, paper and paper products (-13.0%), non-metallic mineral products (-14.3%), rubber products (-10.5%), wearing apparel and accessories (-15.4%), other chemical products (-5.6%), metal products (-10.5%), computer equipment, electronic and optical products (-12.9%), pharmaceuticals (-11.7%), basic metals (-4.2%), machinery and equipment (-5.3%), wood products (-15.1%), other transportation equipment (-13.8%), toiletries, soaps, cleaning products and personal hygiene products (-10.8%) and leather, travel goods and footwear (-9.8%). Only coke, petroleum products and biofuels (6.3%) and mining and quarrying (2.3%) signaled advances in production this month.

Among the marge economic categories, also in the comparison with the immediately previous month, durable consumer goods, with a 27.4% decrease, showed the sharpest decline in May 2018, influenced, to a large extent, by the lower production of cars. It is worth noting that this reduction was the most intense since the beginning of the time series and interrupted three consecutive months of positive rates, and accumulated expansion of 7.6%. The sectors producing capital goods (-18.3%) and semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods (-12.2%) also showed negative rates higher than the national average (-10.9%), with both eliminating the gains accumulated in the last months of March and April: 5.7% and 1.2%, respectively. The intermediate goods segment (-5.2%) also registered a decline in production, with the sharpest loss since December 2008 (-11.9%), and reversed the growth of 1.5% in April.

Also in the seasonally-adjusted series, the evolution of the quarterly moving average index for the total industry showed a fall of 3.4% in the quarter ended in May 2018 compared to the level of the previous month, after moving up 0.3% in April and down 0.7% last March, when it interrupted the upward trend started in May 2017. Among the major economic categories, the segment of durable consumer goods (-8.3%) pointed to the most negative result in that month, interrupting, thus, the predominantly upward trend started in May 2017. The sectors of capital goods (-4.4%), semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods (-3.7%) and intermediate goods (-1.6%) also retreated in May 2018, with the first one interrupting the positive behavior present since February 2017; the second one eliminating the cumulative gain of 2.1% between December 2017 and April 2018; and the third, keeping the downward trend begun in January.

In comparison with May 2017, the industry declined 6.6% in May 2018, with negative results in the four major economic categories, 24 of the 26 branches, 63 of the 79 groups and 69.7% of the 805 products surveyed. It is worth mentioning that, in the result of that month, there is both the influence of the truck drivers' strike and of the calendar effect, since May 2018 (21 days) had one working day less than the same month of the previous year (22). Among activities, food products (-14.3%) and motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (-12.8%) exerted the greatest negative influences on the formation of the industry average. Other negative contributions relevant to the national total came from other chemicals(-9.3%), beverages (-14.9%), non-metallic mineral products (-12.8%), wearing apparel and accessories (-15.5%), pulp, paper and paper products (-9.7%), leather, travel goods and footwear (-17.9%), metal products (- 9.2%), machinery and equipment (-6.3%), rubber and plastic products (-7.7%), electrical machinery and equipment (-10.3%), toiletries, soap, cleaning and personal hygiene products (-12.3%), tobacco products (-21.2%) and pharmaceuticals (-6.8%). On the other hand, in the comparison with May 2017, the activities of coke, petroleum products and biofuels (9.4%) and mining and quarrying (2.0%) showed positive influences on the industry’s total.

Also in relation to May 2017, durable consumer goods (-11.9%) and semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods (-9.1%) marked, in May 2018, the sharpest setbacks between the major economic categories. The segments of capital goods (-6.6%) and intermediate goods (-5.2%) also showed negative rates this month, with the former repeating the loss observed in the national average (-6.6%); and the second with the most moderate fall among the economic categories.

The segment of durable consumer goods declined 11.9% in May 2018 compared to the same period of the previous year, a stronger drop since July 2016 (-16.1%), and interrupted eighteen months of consecutive positive results in this type of comparison. In that month, the sector was particularly pressured by the reduction in car manufacturing (-17.4%). It is also worth mentioning the decreases marked by "white goods" (-15.3%) and "brown goods" (-4.5%), furniture (-14.8%) and other household appliances (-9.0 %). On the other hand, the most important positive impact was recorded by the higher production of motorcycles (25.1%). 

Also in relation to May 2017, the segment of semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods showed a 9.1% drop in the monthly index of May 2018, after registering an expansion of 9.8% in April. It is worth noting that the decline observed in May 2018 was the highest since April 2017 (-9.4%). 

In the comparison with the same month of the previous year, the segment of capital goods, falling 6.6% in May 2018, interrupted twelve months of consecutive negative results and registered the sharpest decline since October 2016 (-8.2 %). In the formation of this month's index, the segment was influenced, to a large extent, by the fall observed in the group of capital goods for transportation equipment (-11.0%). The other negative rates were recorded for capital goods for industrial (-8.9%) and agricultural purposes (-9.6%). On the other hand, the positive impacts were recorded by the groups of capital goods for construction (14.5%), for mixed use (1.9%) and for electricity (1.0%). 

The production of intermediate goods showed a 5.2% reduction in the monthly index of May 2018, thus reversing the positive rate observed in April (4.7%). It is worth mentioning that the decrease seen in May 2018 was the highest since October 2016 (-7.2%).

In the cumulative index in the year, compared to the same period of the previous year, the industrial sector showed expansion of 2.0%, with positive results in the four major economic categories, 14 of the 26 segments, 44 of the 79 groups and 50.3% of the 805 products. Among activities, motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (16.4%) exerted the greatest positive influence on the formation of the industry average, driven to a large extent by cars, tractor-trucks for trailers and semi-trailers, trucks and auto parts. Other significant positive contributions to the national total came from computer equipment, electronic and optical products (21.4%), basic metals (6.3%), machinery and equipment (4.6%), pulp, paper and paper products (3.6%), pharmaceuticals (4.7%) and rubber and plastic products (2.9%). On the other hand, among the eleven activities that indicated a reduction in production, the main influences on the total industry were recorded by other chemicals (-2.9%), mining and quarrying industries (-1.2%) and coke, petroleum products and biofuels (-1.3%).

Among the major economic categories, the profile of the results for the first five months of 2018 showed greater dynamism for durable consumer goods (13.9%) and capital goods (9.5%), driven, to a large extent, by the increase in car production (12.2%) and "brown goods" (35.6%), in the first group; and capital goods for transportation equipment (17.4%), for construction (43.5%) and mixed use (17.3%), in the second. The sectors producing intermediate goods (0.7%) and semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods (0.2%) also registered positive rates in the cumulative index in the year, but with advances below the ones seen in the national average (2.0%).