Indústria nacional
Industrial output drops 0.8% and begins 2019 lower than last year
March 13, 2019 09h00 AM | Last Updated: March 13, 2019 12h19 PM
The Brazilian industrial output fell 0.8% in January, having dropped in 18 out of the 26 activities surveyed, according to the seasonally-adjusted series of the Monthly Industrial Survey, released today by the IBGE. Compared with the performance of January 2018, it dropped 2.6% in the seasonally-unadjusted series. Nevertheless, the industry still accumulates a rise of 0.5% in the last 12 months.
According to André Macedo, manager of the survey, the profile of the negative result is quite spread. "The industrial output is in a pace below that of the end of 2018. We are still on the positive side of the cumulative index over the last 12 months, yet it has been reducing its expansion. Such growth was 3.4% in July 2018. In spite of still being on the positive side, this indicator shows a reduction in the growth level".
Among the economic categories, Capital Goods was the negative highlight, as it fell 3% over December and 7.7% over January 2018. Intermediate Goods (-0.1% and -1.3%) and Consumer Goods (-0.3% and -3.4%) also registered negative figures in both comparisons. Non-durable and Semi-durable Consumer Goods maintained the trend (-0.4% and -2.9%), though Durable Consumer Goods slightly increased over December (0.5%), even in the face of the strong drop in the comparison with January 2018 (-5.5%).
"The drop in Capital Goods between December and January is related to the slow production of trucks, agricultural production goods and industrial machinery and equipment. In relation to January, Capital Goods and Durable Consumer Goods recorded the biggest losses, including cars and brown goods", recalls Macedo.
"The declining exports to Argentina is a key background for the dropping of the car industry as a whole. We began 2019 showing losses and a widespread reduction in the output", complements him.
According to Macedo, the results can be attributed, at a great extent, to the lack of confidence of the entrepreneurs in the recovery of the national economy in the near future, which decreases the investment in machinery and equipment for production.
"Even with an increase in the confidence of the entrepreneurs, it is in relation to the long term. The investments have been postponed. As the group of Capital Goods is directly associated with the investments in the sector, it has already been dropping over the last months", concluded the manager of the survey.
