In August, industrial production in 12 of the 15 surveyed areas had positive rates compared to July, in the seasonally adjusted series. The biggest advance was in Pará (9.8%), the third consecutive one, accumulating a 18.2% gain in the period. Six areas grew above the national average (3.2%): Santa Catarina (6.0%), Ceará (5.7%), Rio Grande do Sul (5.2%), Amazonas (4.9%), São Paulo (4.8%) and Rio de Janeiro (3.3%). The Northeast Region (3.0%), Paraná (2.9%), Mato Grosso (2.6%), Goiás (1.2%) and Bahia (0.9%) also increased in August.The decreases were in Pernambuco (-3.9%) Espírito Santo (-2.7%) and Minas Gerais (-0.4%)

With the increase of 3.2% in the national industrial activity, from July to August 2020, in the seasonally adjusted series, there were positive results in 12 of the 15 surveyed places, reflecting the gradual return to production, after lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pará (9.8%) had the biggest increase, its third consecutive positive rate and a cumulative gain of 18.2% in this period. Santa Catarina (6.0%), Ceará (5.7%), Rio Grande do Sul (5.2%), Amazonas (4.9%), São Paulo (4.8%) and Rio de Janeiro (3 , 3%) also showed advances above the national average.

The Northeast Region (3.0%), Paraná (2.9%), Mato Grosso (2.6%), Goiás (1.2%) and Bahia (0.9%) were the other locations with positive rates in this month.

On the other hand, Pernambuco (-3.9%) and Espírito Santo (-2.7%) had the biggest falls in August 2020, with the former interrupting three consecutive months of growth in production, a period in which it accumulated a gain of 40.3%; and the latter, falling back after advancing 28.1% in July. Minas Gerais, with a negative change of 0.4%, also showed a drop in production this month.

The quarterly moving average grew 6.9% in the quarter ended in August 2020 compared to the level of the previous month, after advancing 8.9% in July, when it interrupted the predominantly downward trend that started in November 2019.

The 15 surveyed areas showed positive rates in that month, with a highlight to the sharp expansions in Ceará (23.2%), Amazonas (21.8%), Northeast Region (8.8%), Santa Catarina (8.8% ), Rio Grande do Sul (8.6%), São Paulo (8.2%), Espírito Santo (7.5%), Pará (5.9%), Minas Gerais (4.7%), Bahia ( 4.5%) and Rio de Janeiro (4.2%).

Compared to the same month of the previous year, industrial production fell by 2.7% in August 2020, with nine of the 15 surveyed locations showing negative results. It is worth mentioning that August 2020 (21 days) had one business day less than the same month of the previous year (22).

Espírito Santo (-14.7%) and Paraná (-7.6%) registered the sharpest decreases. Bahia (-6.1%), Mato Grosso (-4.4%) and São Paulo (-4.1%) also had more intense negative rates than the national average (-2.7%), while Pará ( -1.8%), Rio Grande do Sul (-1.6%), Santa Catarina (-1.3%) and Minas Gerais (-0.1%) were the other locations with drop in production in the monthly index  of August 2020 in this comparison.

On the other hand, Pernambuco (10.0%) reorded the greatest advance this month, with Ceará (5.3%), Rio de Janeiro (4.0%), Goiás (3.1%), Northeast Region (2 , 7%) and Amazonas (0.7%) completing the set of areas with positive rates in August.

On a four-month basis, the industrial sector, with a decrease of 8.9% in the second four-month period of 2020, registered the highest drop since the first four-month period of 2016 (-10.2%), thus remaining with the negative behavior which started in the last four-month period of 2018 (-1.6%) - all comparisons against the same period of the previous year.

There was deceleration in eight of the 15 surveyed areas, with a highlight to Pará (from 5.0% to -6.9%), Bahia (from -2.9% to -12.3%), Espírito Santo (from -15, 2% to -22.6%), Rio de Janeiro (from 6.1% to -1.0%), Paraná (from -6.3% to -10.4%) and the Northeast Region (from -5, 3% to -8.4%).

On the other hand, Pernambuco (from -2.5% to 4.4%), Minas Gerais (from -11.2% to -4.9%), Goiás (from -1.0% to 3.5%) and Mato Grosso (from -4.2% to -0.7%) had the main gains between the two periods.

In the cumulative result for the year, compared to 2019, there was a reduction in 12 of the 15 surveyed places, mostly in Espírito Santo (-18.9%), Ceará (-14.8%) and Amazonas (-13.7%).

Rio Grande do Sul (-12.4%), Santa Catarina (-11.9%) and São Paulo (-11.1%) also registered more intense negative rates than the national average (-8.6%), while Paraná (-8.5%), Minas Gerais (-7.9%), Bahia (-7.7%), Northeast Region (-6.9%), Mato Grosso (-2.3%) and Pará (-1.9%) completed the set of locations with falls in this indicator.

The three highs were Rio de Janeiro (2.4%), Goiás (1.8%) and Pernambuco (0.9%).

The cumulative index in the last 12 months decreased 5.7% in August 2020 and repeated the result of last July, the sharpest decrease since December 2016 (-6.4%), thus remaining with more intense losses than those of previous months.

In 13 of the 15 locations surveyed there were negative rates in August 2020, but only five of these falls were less intense than those in July. In Pará (from -0.5% to -1.8%), Paraná (from -3.6% to -4.5%), Amazonas (from -4.8% to -5.7%) and in São Paulo (from -6.6% to -7.0%), losses were sharper, while Pernambuco (from -1.9% to -0.3%), the Northeast Region (from -5.6% to - 4.5%), Minas Gerais (from -8.1% to -7.6%) and Ceará (from -9.4% to -9.0%) registered the main gains between the two periods.