Indústria nacional
Industrial output grows 0.8% in October, third rise in a row
December 04, 2019 09h00 AM | Last Updated: December 04, 2019 12h23 PM
According to the Monthly Industrial Survey, released today (4) by the IBGE, the output of the Brazilian industry grew 0.8% in October compared with the previous month, mainly leveraged by food products and pharmaceuticals.
It is the best October since 2012 (1.5%) and the third consecutive rise of the sector, which accrued an expansion of 2.4% in this period, which was not the case since the end of 2017. Three out of the four major economic categories and 14 out of the 26 sectors surveyed advanced in October.
Nevertheless, the industrial sector fell 1.1% in the cumulative rate in the year. It rose 1% in October in relation to the same month a year ago, the second rise after three consecutive months of negative figures: June (-5.8%), July (-2.6%) and August (-2.1%). The industrial output retreated 1.3% in the cumulative index in 12 months, continuing to reduce the intensity of the loss started in August.
"When we take a look at the last three months, we perceive an improvement in the course of industry, though not as a whole. Such growth has been influenced by the domestic demand and by a slight improvement in the labor market, followed by the wage bill, concession of credit, release of the FGTS and inflation below the target. This improvement is far from recovering the past losses, though it points out a change in the industrial sector, which was negative until the middle of the year", assesses André Macedo, manager of the survey.
Among the activities, the most important positive influences on the October´s increase were registered by food products (3.4%), mainly sugar and orange juice, and pharmo-chemicals and pharmaceuticals (11.2%). Pharmo-chemicals reversed the drop recorded in the previous month (-0.3%) and pharmaceuticals offset the cumulative reduction of 9.1% in the months of August and September this year.
Macedo highlights that the sectors of electrical machinery and apparatus (4.9%), pulp, paper and paper products (2.4%), printing and reproduction of recorded media (15.3%), machinery and equipment (1.4%), other chemicals (1.1%), non-metallic mineral products (1.8%) and beverages (1.6%) also posted a relevant positive impact.
On the other hand, the manager of the survey points out that among the ten sectors that reduced the output this month, the most important performances were registered by coke, petroleum products and biofuels (-2.1%), which accelerated the retreat reported in the previous month (-1.3%); basic metals (-3.2%), which lost 7.1% in five consecutive months of declining output; and in the mining and quarrying industries (-1.1%), which reported the second negative rate in a row, a cumulative loss of 2.9% in this period.
"Those three segments strongly influence the industrial sector, though petroleum products influence more. In basic metals, the sequence of drops was mainly due to steel products", commented André Macedo. Other retreats were registered in the segments of wearing apparel and accessories (-3.4%), furniture (-5.6%) and motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (-0.6%).
Among the major economic categories analyzed by the Monthly Industrial Survey, the best results were recorded by durable consumer goods (1.3%) and semi and non-durable consumer goods (1.0%). The segment of intermediate goods (0.3%) also advanced this month. The sector of capital goods was the only one to post a negative rate in October (-0.3%).
