National industry
National industrial production changes -0.2% in February
April 19, 2023 09h00 AM | Last Updated: April 19, 2023 02h57 PM
The industrial output in Brazil changed -0.2% between January and February. It was the third negative figure in a row, accumulating a drop of 0.6%. These are the results of the Monthly Industrial Survey - PIM, released today (19) by the IBGE. With this result, the national industry is 2.6% below the pre-pandemic level (February 2020) and 19% below the record level of May 2011.
Compared with February 2022, the industrial production retreated 2.4%. The result for 2023 (January-February) is -1.1%, whereas the cumulative index in the last 12 months is -0.2%. “Although industrial production has somehow improved in the end of last year, it starts 2023 with production losses and is still far from recovering from recent losses,” explains André Macedo, manager of the survey.
Among 25 activities surveyed in PIM, nine retreated. Among the most influential are the sectors of food products (-1.1%), chemicals (-1.8%) and pharmaceuticals (-4.5%). “Among the food products, some of the negative highlights came from the smaller production of beef, poultry and pork, juices and soybean derivatives. The drop in the production of beef was influenced by the suspension of the exports to China, due to the mad cow disease registered in the end of February,” describes the researcher.
The activities of electrical machines, appliances and material (-3.5%) and fabricated metal products (-1.4%) helped to pressure the negative change of the national industry as well.
Among 16 rising activities, the highlight were the mining and quarrying industries (4.6%), which stepped up the expansion of January (3.4%). The sectors of beverages (3.6%), coke, petroleum products and biofuels (0.5%), printing and reproduction of recorded media (11.2%), miscellaneous manufacturing (4.0%), basic metals (0.8%) and computer, electronic and optical products (2.0%) advanced as well.
Concerning the major economic categories, the highest negative rate was recorded by durable consumer goods, which declined 1.4%, stepping up the loss of 1.2% of January. The segment of semi and non-durable consumer goods (-0.1%) also reduced its output, interrupting four consecutive months of growth. The sectors of capital goods (0.1%) and intermediate goods (0.5%) reported positive changes.
Drop in annual comparison is 2.4%
Compared with February 2022, the national industrial sector retreated 2.4%. The drop in the output was widespread and hit 17 out of 25 sectors. The most important negative influences came from chemicals (-8.0%), food products (-3.8%), motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (-6.1%) and machinery and equipment (-9.0%).
Among eight rising activities, that of mining and quarrying industries (5.1%) exerted the biggest influence on the industrial average, mainly leveraged by the bigger production of items iron ore and crude petroleum oil.
“The retreat in this comparison offsets the advance of 0.3% registered in January this year,” stresses Macedo, highlighting the influence of the so-called calendar effect. “February 2023 had less one business day, with 18 business days,” concludes him.
More on the survey
PIM Brazil has been producing short-term indicators since the 1970s regarding the behavior of the real product of mining and quarrying and manufacturing industries. March 2023 marked the beginning of the release of the new time series of monthly indexes of the industrial production, after a redesign to update the sample of activities, products and informants; create a new weighting structure of the indexes based on the most recent industrial statistics; update the base year of reference of the survey; and incorporate new Federation Units in the release of regional results of the survey. These methodological changes are required and they aim at incorporating the economic changes of the society. The survey results can also be consulted at the Sidra database.
