Industrial output dropped in seven of the 15 areas surveyed from July to August, according to data from the Monthly Survey of Industry (PIM Regional), released today (08) by the IBGE. Pernambuco (-12%) recorded the biggest decrease and that made up for part of the 6.1% increase in July. National output dropped 0.7%.

With the result of August, six areas are above pre-pandemic levels (February 2020): Minas Gerais (10.3% above), which is the only area that has been in the list since July last year, besides Santa Catarina (4.9%) Paraná (1.8%) Rio de Janeiro (1.4%), Amazonas (1%) and São Paulo (0.1%).

The Covid-19 pandemic still affects recovery of the industrial sector, says Bernardo Almeida, survey analyst, who explains that the costs of raw material are high and some inputs have been scarce. “There has also been a decrease in consumption, with growing inflation, and that ends up affecting the purchasing power of families, which gets lower. All that has an impact on the productive chain, and affects decision making by both producers and consumers,” he states.

Pernambuco was the area accounting for the biggest influence on the result of August and also the most significant decrease, as a result of the negative performance of sector of the toiletries, soaps, cleaning and personal hygiene products. “This type of industry is typical in the state and, for this reason, very influential as well,”, the analyst explains. The sector of other chemicals also had an effect on the local result. That was the biggest decrease recorded by Pernambuco since April 2020 (-18.9%), when the country was at the height of social distancing measures in order to try to control the pandemic.

Minas Gerais (-0.9%) accounted for the second main negative contribution to the national result, where the sector of motor vehicles had an impact on the industry of the state, which recorded the third negative rate in a row, with a cumulative decrease of 4.6%.”

Espírito Santo (-3.7%), Northeast Region (-3.5%), Mato Grosso (-2.3%) and Rio Grande do Sul (-1.0%) registered the most significant decreases in comparison with the national average. Goiás (-0.3%) completes the group of areas with negative results in the month.

In terms of increases, the highlights were Amazonas (7.3%) and Pará (7.1%), which recorded the main increases – in terms of influence, the positions were reversed: Pará was in the first position, Amazonas, in the second.

In the industry of Amazonas, the result of August made up for part of the decrease in July (-13.2%), due to the good performance of the secot of beverages and the sector of other transportation equipment. The industrial park of Paraná has interrupted a sequence of three months in a row with decrease of output, a period when it had a cumulative decrease of 9.7%. The good performance was mainly due to the result of mining and quarrying sectors and basic metals.

Santa Catarina (1.9%), Paraná (1.5%), Rio de Janeiro (1.3%), São Paulo (0.4%) and Bahia (0.3%) complete the list of areas with positive results in August. Ceará reached the same level as in July and recorded null change.

Against August 2020, nine areas recorded decreases

In comparison with August last year, which fell by 0.7%, nine of the 15 areas surveyed recorded decreases in production. Northeast Region (-17.2%), Bahia (-13.8%) and Pernambuco (-13.5%) accounted for the main decreases. Pará (-6.2%), Ceará (-5.6%), Goiás (-3.4%), Mato Grosso (-2.1%), Amazonas (-1.5%) and Rio Grande do Sul (-1.5%) complete the group of areas with negative results in the month.

Espírito Santo (6.0%), Santa Catarina (5.8%), Rio de Janeiro (1.4%) and São Paulo (0.9%) also recorded positive rates in the month. It is worth mentioning that August 2021 had 22 business days, one day more than in August (21 days).

More about the survey

  PIM Brazil has been producing short-term indicators since the 1970s regarding the behavior of the real product from mining and quarrying and manufacturing industries. It presents, every month, indexes for 14 Federation Units, whose contribution is of at least 1% of the total value of manufacturing at national level and also for the Northeast Region as a whol:. Amazonas, Pará, Ceará, Pernambuco, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás and the Northeast Region.