In November 2011, the industrial production index recorded a positive change of 0.3% in relation to the previous month in the seasonally adjusted series, after registering negative rates in the last three months, when the index accumulated a loss of 2.6%.  When compared with November 2010, the index for the overall industry decreased 2.5%, the smallest level since October 2009 (-3.1%), accelerating the pace of fall in relation to September (-1.6%) and October (-2.2%). The performance of this month led the accumulated indicator in the eleven months of the year to a rate of 0.4%, below the level registered in the previous months.  The annual rate, accumulated index in the last twelve months, also slowed down the growth pace, changing from 1.3% in October to 0.6% in November, maintaining the downward trend observed since October 2010 (11.8%).

The complete publication of the survey can be accessed on page www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/indicadores/industria/pimpfbr/default.shtm

The result of the industrial activity in November, related to the immediately previous month, was positive (0.3%), but it has not recovered the loss accumulated in the last three months: -

0.1% in August, -1.9% in September and -0.7% in October. In the seasonally adjusted series, the evolution of the quarterly moving average index reinforces the scenario of less dynamism, once this indicator continued to decline for the fourth month. The deceleration of the pace of the industrial activity was also observed in the comparison with the same month of the previous year, once the industrial sector showed a fall in November, deepening the declines recorded in September and October. The accumulated indicators of the year and in the last 12 months show the maintenance of positive figures, but clearly indicate a decrease in the growth pace in relation to the previous months.

 Among the sectors, 18 recorded increase and 9 decrease

Contributing to the overall industrial activity rate of 0.3% between October and November, 18 sectors recorded an increase in the production – the highlights were machinery and equipment (4.0%) -, recovering part of the loss of 9.3% registered in the last two months.

It is worth mentioning the positive impact recorded by the sectors of motor vehicles (1.5%), publishing and printing (3.4%), fabricated metal products (3.9%), pharmaceutical products (3.3%), other chemical products (1.6%), apparel and accessories (9.4%) and mining and quarrying industry (1.7%). Among the 9 activities that decreased the production, the most important performances for the overall average were observed in the sectors of petroleum refinement and alcohol production (-5.3%) – reducing part of the expansion of 7.1% observed in the last four months -, electronic material, communication equipment and apparatus (-7.5%) and office machinery and computer equipment (-8.3%). 

Among the categories of use, still comparing with the immediately previous month, semi- and non-durable consumer goods (2.2%) and capital goods (1.6%) recorded the highest increases in November 2011, the former recovering part of the loss of 3.9% observed in the last three months and the latter reverting two consecutive months of negative rates:

September (-6.3%) and October (-2.3%). The sector of intermediate goods (0.5%) also showed an increase in the production in November 2011, interrupting the negative behavior observed since last June. Durable consumer goods was the only category of use that registered a decrease in this month (-0.9%), after expanding 2.3% in last October. 

Quarterly moving average declines -0.8%

In the evolution of the quarterly moving average index, the overall industry continued its downward trend for the fourth consecutive month. The quarter ended in November closed with a decrease of 0.8% against the previous month, virtually repeating the pace of fall observed in the last two months:

September (-0.6%) and October (-0.9%). Regarding the evolution of this index among the categories of use, the highlights were the production of durable consumer goods (-2.6%) and capital goods (-2.4%), which continued the downward trend started last July and August, accumulating losses in these periods of 9.9% and 5.6%, respectively. The other negative figures were observed for intermediate goods (-0.1%) – which recorded the sixth consecutive negative result - and semi- and non-durable consumer goods (-0.3%).

Industrial output declines 2.5% in comparison with November 2010 

Compared with the same month last year, the industrial output declined 2.5% in November 2011, the third consecutive negative result in this type of comparison and the smallest level since October 2009 (-3.1%).

The fall of the index in this month was widespread, once most (17) of the 27 activities surveyed decreased the production. Among the sectors, the major negative influences over the global index came from motor vehicles (-4.4%), electronic material, communication equipment and apparatus (-15.2%), electrical machinery and apparatus (-14.2%), textile products (-13.0%), office machinery and computer equipment (-14.7%), publishing and printing (-5.3%), basic metals (-3.7%) and leather articles and footwear (-13.7%). In these activities, the items with a smaller production were, respectively: automobiles; mobile phones, switching apparatus for mobile telephony and televisions; electrical motors, electrical devices for alarm and signaling and transformers; cotton yarn and fabrics; computers; alcohol and naphtha for petrochemical; books, newspapers and magazines; steel carbon ingots, blocks, rods or plates and cold-rolled steel carbon coil; and footwear made of synthetic material and leather for women and leather sneakers. Among the 9 sectors that recorded an increase in the production, the major pressures on the overall industry came from mining and quarrying industry (3.5%), beverages (2.8%), fabricated metal products (3.0%) and medical, optical and other equipment (7.2%), influenced in large extent by the expansion in the manufacturing of iron ore, in the first sector; sodas, bottled beers and draft beers, in the second; parts for capital goods and iron and steel structures, in the third; and programmable logic controllers in the last one. 

The indexes by category of use, still comparing with the same month last year, validate the lower pace of the industrial activity, with all sectors registering a decrease in the production in November 2011. The sector of durable consumer goods (-11.5%) recorded the highest negative rate, pressured in large extent by the smaller manufacturing of automobiles (-17.7%), mobile phones (-19.0%) and house appliances (-2.8%), either those from the "brown line" (-6.0%) or "white line" (-3.6%).

In this category of use, the major positive results came from the larger manufacturing of motorcycles (5.3%) and furniture articles (1.6%). The sector of capital goods (-2.9%) also declined above the overall industry (-2.5%) and was negatively influenced by the groups of capital goods for mixed use (-12.5%), capital goods for electrical energy (-12.5%) and capital goods for construction (-23.5%), whereas capital goods for transportation equipment (7.1%), capital goods for industrial purposes (15.1%) and capital goods for agricultural purposes (4.3%) positively influenced the overall category of use.

Still comparing with the same month last year, the categories of semi- and non-durable consumer goods (-0.8%) and of intermediate goods (-1.4%) also declined in November 2011. In the first category, the negative pressures were observed in the groups of semi-durable (-9.2%), fuels (-6.2%) and other non-durable (-2.5%), mainly influenced by the decrease in the manufacturing of footwear made of synthetic material or leather for women in the first group; alcohol in the second one; and books, medicines and newspapers in the last one.

In this category of use, the sub-sector of food and beverages for household consumption (4.5%) registered the only positive number, influenced in large extent by the item of concentrated orange juice. The fall of 1.4% observed in the sector of intermediate goods against November 2010 was negatively pushed by the smaller manufacturing of the products associated with the activities of food products (-13.0%), textile products (-14.2%), basic metals (-3.7%), petroleum refinement and alcohol production (-2.9%) and rubber and plastic products (-3.5%), and positively influenced by the sectors of metal products (6.5%), mining and quarrying industry (3.5%), motor vehicles (2.8%), other chemical products (1.1%), non-metallic minerals (1.1%) and pulp and paper products (0.1%). In this category of use, it is worth mentioning the positive results from the groups of intermediate goods for civil construction (3.5%) - which registered the seventh consecutive positive rate - and packaging (2.4%).

15 sectors recorded growth in the accumulated indicator of 2011

The accumulated indicator for the overall industry in January-November 2011, compared with the same period of 2010, showed an increase of 0.4%, with 15 of the 27 activities recording growth in production. The sector of motor vehicles (2.5%), greatly influenced by the positive results in 63% of the surveyed products in the sector, continued to be the main contributor to the overall index. It is worth mentioning the expansion recorded by the sectors of other transportation equipment (8.5%), non-metallic minerals (3.7%), mining and quarrying industry (2.1%), medical, optical and other instruments (10.6%), fabricated metal products (2.8%), tobacco (13.8%) and publishing and printing (2.1%).

In terms of products, the highlights in these sectors were: trucks, vehicles for transportation of goods, tractor trucks and chassis with motor for trucks and buses; airplanes and motorcycles; ceramic plates and tiles and "Portland" cement; iron ore; watches; iron and steel structures; processed tobacco; and magazines and books. Among the 12 sectors that decreased the production, the highlights came from textile products (-14.7%), other chemical products (-2.4%), leather articles and footwear (-9.7%) and electrical machinery and apparatus (-3.2%), pushed by the smaller manufacturing of the items: cotton fabrics, yarn and bath, face and hands towels; herbicides for use in agriculture; footwear made of synthetic material and leather for women, and leather sneakers; and transformers and electrical motors. 

Among the categories of use, capital goods (3.6%) showed greater dynamism for the accumulated index in the first 11 months of 2011, registering a growth high above the overall industry (0.4%), leveraged by the expansion observed in the sectors of capital goods for transportation equipment, capital goods for construction and capital goods for industrial purposes.

The sectors producing intermediate goods (0.4%) remained positive in the accumulated index of the year, whereas the sector of semi- and non-durable consumer goods (-0.2%) registered a slightly negative change. The production of durable consumer goods fell by 1.7%, registering the highest decline among the categories of use, mainly pushed by the smaller manufacturing of automobiles.