The industrial activity recorded a more intense pace of production in May, represented by the advance of 1.3% observed in the comparison with the immediately previous month and the consequent recovery from the drop of 1.2% recorded in April.

As a result, in the seasonally adjusted series, the quarterly moving average index kept the upward trend for the fourth consecutive month, but with a clear reduction movement in the growth pace in the last three months. In the comparison with the same periods a year ago, the industrial sector recorded positive results both in the monthly index (after two months of fall in that type of contrast) and in the accumulated index of the first five months of the year, with the predominance of positive rates for most of the sectors surveyed. The highlights were the sectors associated with capital goods.

Among the sectors, 19 recorded a high and eight, a down in May

With the advance of 1.3% observed for the overall industry between April and May, the production level reached the highest point since the beginning of the time series. That increase in the pace of the activity in May was observed in the great part (19) of the twenty seven sectors surveyed. The positive highlights were food (3.9%), metal products (12.8%), motor vehicles (3.5%), machinery and equipment (4.8%), petroleum refinement and alcohol production (4.2%) and electrical machinery and apparatus (4.4%). It is worth mentioning that these sectors recorded, respectively, a reduction in production in the previous month of –3.0%, -10.2%, -2.9%, -5.0%, -0.6% and –9.8%. Conversely, the main negative pressure came from the pharmaceutical industry (-12.1%), which returned part of the 18.9% accumulated between December of 2010 and April of 2011, followed by basic metals (-1.9%), beverages (-2.2%), publishing and printing (-2.4%) and medical, optical and other equipment (-5.3%). 

In the comparison with the immediately previous month, durable consumer goods (2.7%) reached the highest result among the categories of use, recovering part of the 10.0% fall observed in April.

Capital goods (1.7%) and intermediate goods (1.5%) also recorded positive rates in May, after registering a contraction of 2.9% and 0.6%, respectively, in the previous month. The production of semi- and non-durable consumer goods recorded a drop (-1.5%) in April and stability in May (0.0%).

Quarterly moving average stood at 0.2

 In the evolution of the quarterly moving average index, the overall industry continued its upward trend for the fourth consecutive month. The quarter ended in May closed with a positive change of 0.2% against the previous month, but with a reduction in the pace of growth in relation to the result of March (0.9%) and April (0.4%). Among the categories of use, in relation to the movement of this index on margin, the highlight was the production of capital goods, which advanced 0.8% in May and kept a sequence of positive rates started in November of last year. The other positive results were observed for intermediate goods (0.3%) and semi- and non-durable consumer goods (0.2%), which kept the upward trend started in October and December of 2010, respectively. Durable consumer goods (-1.1%) recorded the only negative rate in May, after a low in the previous month (-2.4%).

Industrial output advances 2.7% in comparison with May of 2010

In the contrast between May 2011 and May 2010, the industrial output advanced 2.7%, with most of the surveyed activities (19 out of 27) pointing to a growth. It is worth mentioning that May of 2011 (22 days) had one more trading day than May of 2010 (21 days). The most relevant positive impacts on the overall index came from motor vehicles (6.0%), petroleum refinement and alcohol production (8.0%), metal products (13.0%), other transport equipment (13.2%), machinery and equipment (3.5%) and tobacco (20.2%). In these activities, the highlights were: trucks and towing tractor trucks; motor vehicle gasoline and diesel oil; parts and accessories for capital goods; airplanes and motorcycles; microwave ovens, goods lifting and transport equipment, motor graders and wheel loaders; and processed tobacco. Among the eight sectors to record a drop in production, the main pressures on the average of the industry came from textiles (-13.4%), beverages (-6.4%) and publishing and printing (-2.6%), mainly influenced by the contractions in the manufacture of cotton fabric and cotton bath, face and hand towels in the first sector; soft drink, beer, and draft beer in the second one; books, brochures and teaching publications and newspapers in the last one.

Among the categories of use, in comparison with the same month a year ago, the results were positive. Capital goods (7.1%) recorded a quite superior pace in relation to the overall industry (2.7%), mainly propelled by the growth of capital goods for transportation (16.7%) and for construction (24.8%) and, in a smaller scale, by capital goods for industrial purposes (0.8%). In these groups, the highlights were trucks, tractor trucks for towing and airplanes; motor graders, wheel loaders and bulldozers; and machinery and equipment for mining and quarrying and cellulose industry Conversely, capital goods for mixed (-4.0%), agricultural (-3.6%) and electric energy uses (-0.1%) exerted negative impacts on the total of the category of use.

In the comparison with May of 2010, advancing below the total of the industry, there were intermediate goods (2.4%), durable consumer goods (2.3%) and semi- and non-durable consumer goods (2.0%). In the first category, the main positive influences came from motor vehicles (11.5%), metal products (18.3%), mining and quarrying industry (3.0%), petroleum refinement and alcohol production (2.4%) and non-metallic minerals (4.9%); whereas the main negative pressures came from textiles (-10.8%), food (-5.0%) and pulp and paper (-1.3%). It is also worth highlighting the positive indexes recorded by the intermediate goods for civil construction (3.9%), which interrupted two consecutive negative months, and packaging (0.6%), which kept the sequence of 20 months of positive rates. The positive performance of durable consumer goods against May of 2010 was particularly influenced by the higher production of cell phones (44.7%), motorcycles (21.6%) and furniture (2.4%). Motor vehicles (-6.9%) and house appliances (-1.0%), both "white line" (-2.1%) and "brown line" (-14.8%), recorded a contraction in production. In the semi- and non-durable consumer goods industry (2.0%), the monthly index was greatly propelled by the growth of 18.5% recorded by fuels, due to the higher production of motor vehicle gasoline in May and to the low base of comparison resulting from the partial shutdown of an important industrial plant in May of last year. In this category of use, other non-durable (1.0%) and food and beverages for household consumption (0.3%) recorded more moderate advances, while semi-durable (-5.7%) registered the only negative result. 

In the accumulated indicator of 2011, 17 of the 27 activities recorded growth

In the January-May/2011 accumulated index, in contrast with the same period in the previous year, the growth was of 1.8% for the overall industry, sustained by the positive results in all the categories of use and in great part (17) of the twenty seven activities surveyed. Motor vehicles, with a rise of 6.9%, continued to be the major positive influence on the overall index, propelled by the advance in production of approximately 83% of the products surveyed. The highlights in production were trucks, vehicles for transport of goods and towing tractor trucks. Other positive contributions to the national total came from other transportation equipment (12.5%), pharmaceutical (6.6%), petroleum refinement and alcohol production (3.6%); medical, optical and other equipment (21.2%), machinery and equipment (2.4%), non-metallic minerals (4.7%) and mining and quarrying industry (2.9%).

In terms of products, the highlights in these sectors were: airplanes and motorcycles; medicines; diesel oil and motor vehicle gasoline; watches; motor graders and wheel loaders; ceramic tiles and plates and portland cement; and iron ores. Conversely, among the ten sectors down, the highlights were the contractions from textiles (-11.9%), other chemical products (-3.3%), beverages (-3.7%) and food (-1.0%), pressured, respectively, by the lower production of cotton fabric articles and cotton bath, face and hand towels; herbicides for agricultural use; syrup and powder preparations for beverages; and crystallized sugar and orange juice. 

Among the categories of use, the results for the accumulated index of the first five months of 2011 displayed more dynamism against the same period a year ago. Capital goods (6.4%) registered the highest rate, greatly propelled by the advances in capital goods for transportation and for construction, followed by durable consumer goods (2.3%). Both categories registered a growth above the national average (1.8%). Intermediate goods (1.4%) and semi- and non-durable consumer goods (0.5%) also registered expansion, but they were below the total of industry. 

In May of 2011, the industrial output advanced 1.3% against the previous month in the seasonally adjusted series, after interrupting (-1.2%) the sequence of positive results started last January.

In relation to the same month a year ago, the growth stood at 2.7%, reverting two consecutive months of negative rates in this type of comparison: March (-1.3%) and April (-1.5%). As a result, the accumulated index in the first five months of the year kept the upward trend (1.8%) and showed a slight gain in relation to the accumulated index until April (1.6%). The annual rate, accumulated index in the last twelve months, after growing 4.5% in May, had a larger reduction in growth compared with the result of April (5.4%) and kept the downward trend started in October of last year.
The complete publication of the survey can be accessed at www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/indicadores/industria/pimpfbr/.

A publicação completa da pesquisa pode ser acessada na página www.ibge.gov.br/home/estatistica/indicadores/industria/pimpfbr/.