Between February and March, the industrial production regional indexes, seasonally adjusted,...

Between February and March, the industrial production regional indexes, seasonally adjusted, decreased in five of the 14 locations surveyed. Bahia (-1.3%), Minas Gerais (-0.7%) and Santa Catarina (-0.7%) registered drops above the national average (-0.5%). The remaining negative rates were recorded in São Paulo (-0.3%), the most important textile park in the country, and in the Northeast region (-0.5%). Paraná (9.8%), Goiás (6.7%) and Amazonas (6.5%) had the highest positive results, after a downfall in the production in the previous month: -7.4%, -4.2% and 8.0%, respectively.  Rio Grande do Sul (2.6%), Rio de Janeiro (2.5%), Ceará (1.9%), Pará (0.9%), Pernambuco (0.4%) and Espírito Santo (0.3%) also advanced in the production in March. The complete publication of the survey can be accessed at

www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/industria/pimpfregional/.

In the accumulated indicator for the first quarter of 2012, the reduction in the production reached eight of the 14 places surveyed – four of which decreasing above the national average (-3,0%).  Rio de Janeiro (-6.8%), São Paulo (-6.2%), Santa Catarina (-5.9%) and Ceará (-4.3%). Espírito Santo (-2.4%), Amazonas (-2.0%), Minas Gerais (-1.4%) and Pará (-1.2%) complete the set of locations with negative rates at the end of the first three months of 2012. In these places, the lower dynamism was due to the slowdown in the production of durable consumer goods (automobiles, motorcycles, air conditioners and cell phones) and of capital goods (especially trucks), coupled with a lower production coming from mining and quarrying (iron ores), textiles, apparel and basic metals. Goiás (18.8%), Bahia (8.0%) and Paraná (7.4%) posted the greatest advances, reflecting particularly a bigger production of medicines, in the first location, of thermoplastic resins, in the second, and of books and didactic printed material in the last. Pernambuco (5.6%), the Northeast region (4.0%) and Rio Grande do Sul also presented positive results.

The regional indexes of the industrial production showed that the rise in the intensity of the downward trend observed in the national index between Q4 2011 (-2.1%) and Q1 2012 (-3.0%), both comparisons against the same period a year ago, was also seen in seven of the 14 locations surveyed. In this kind of comparison, the greatest pace reductions were in Amazonas (from 6.6% to -2.0%), Paraná (from 15.2% to 7.4%), Espírito Santo (from 2.9% to -2.4%), Rio de Janeiro (from -2.5% to -6.8%) and Pará (from 2.9% to -1.2%), whereas Bahia (from -4.4% to 8.0%), Goiás (from 9.7% to 18.8%) and the Northeast region (from -3.0% to 4.0%) registered the highest pace advances between the two periods. 

In the comparison between March 2012 and March 2011, seven of the 14 locations surveyed presented decrease in the production. São Paulo (-6.2%) and Santa Catarina (-6.0%) were the highlights, registering the sharpest drops. The remaining negative results were recorded by Rio de Janeiro (-2.4%), Espírito Santo (-2.4%), the Northeast region (-1.4%), Minas Gerais (-0.7%), and Bahia (-0.7%). Goiás (24.7%) and Paraná (15.0%) had the most significant expansions, reflecting a higher production of the chemical products sector, in the first location, and of editing and printing, in the second. Negative results were also reported by: Pará (5.5%), Rio Grande do Sul (1.5%), Ceará (1.3%), Amazonas (0.3%) and Pernambuco (1.1%).

The quarterly moving average for the national overall posted a drop of 0.3% between February and March, keeping the negative behavior observed since May 2011.  In regional terms, seven of the 14 locations surveyed also pointed to negative results, with a highlight to the down rates seen in Pará (-3.2%), Paraná (-1.6%) and Amazonas (-1.1%).   The highest increases were recorded in Bahia (3.2%), Goiás (1.9%) and in the Northeast region (1.9%).

Still regarding the seasonally adjusted series, in the quarter-over-immediately previous quarter index, the industrial production showed signs of a contraction in the producing pace, as it receded 0.5% in the first quarter of 2012 and posted the fourth consecutive quarter of production downfalls. In regional terms, seven of the 14 places surveyed followed this movement, with a highlight to the sharpest drops recorded by Pará (-8.9%), Amazonas (-5.1%), Rio de Janeiro (-4.4%) and Paraná (-2.3%), whereas Bahia (5.3%), Goiás (4.8%) and the Northeast region (3.6%) registered the main gains in this period.