Inflation in Industry
Industry prices up 0.12% in April due to high in food products
May 29, 2020 09h00 AM | Last Updated: May 29, 2020 12h52 PM
Industry prices rose 0.12% in April, compared to the previous month, according to the Producer Price Index (IPP) released today (29) by the IBGE. It was the ninth consecutive increase in the index, and in March the change had been 0.84%. The sectors that most influenced this month's index were petroleum products, food, other chemicals and basic metals, in a scenario of appreciation of the dollar and a drop in the price of petroleum products.
The IPP measures the change of factory-gate prices of products, excluding taxes and freight, of 24 activities in the mining and quarrying and manufacturing industries.
“Food has the greatest weight in the calculation of IPP (25.61%). In March, food industry prices had risen by an average of 4.23% and now, in April, by 2.09%. This places the sector among the four most relevant in this result ”, explains the survey manager, Mr. Alexandre Brandão. The April increase is the third consecutive positive result in food products, which accumulate 6.51% in the year.
The products “frozen beef meat”, “demerara sugar, including VHP sugar”, “soybean extraction residues” and “fresh or cooled beef” were the ones that most influenced the food sector. "In the case of frozen and fresh or cooled beef, the exchange rate alone raises the price of it, but there is also pressure from China on the prices of this product on the world market," he adds.
The general index, 0.12%, is explained by two factors: the appreciation of the dollar and the fall in the price of petroleum products. “The 9% depreciation of the real against the dollar triggers a series of increases in the prices investigated by the IPP, either because of the products that Brazil exports - such as leather, tobacco, soybean products, beef - or because of the effects on the increase of raw materials, which will have an impact, for example, on chemistry and household appliances ”, he explains.
The record drop of 20.9% in petroleum refining and ehtanol products, according to the researcher, restrained the result of the general index. "The price of crude petroleum oil has fallen quite sharply in the international market, which reflected in Brazil both in the decrease in its price and in that of its derivatives and also of ehtanol", he adds.
In April, 20 of the 24 activities showed positive price changes. The biggest ones were among the products of the following activities: petroleum refining and ethanol products (-20.99%), computer equipment, electronic and optical products (5.63%), other transportation equipment (5.37% ) and wood (5.26%).
The cumulative indicator in the year (April/2020 against December 2019) reached 2.13%, against 2.01% in March/2020. The cumulative index in 12 months was 4.79%.
