Between November and December 2012, the stability of the production level in the industry was also seen in  the areas, since seven places recorded negative rates and seven advanced this month, in the seasonally adjusted series.   Paraná (-3.5%), Rio Grande do Sul (-2.0%), Espírito Santo (-1.9%), Rio de Janeiro (-1.3%), Ceará (-1.1%), Minas Gerais (-1.0%) and Amazonas (-0.5%) posted decreases in the production. On the other hand, Goiás, rising 13.7%, recorded the highest growth in December 2012, followed by Pernambuco (7.6%), Bahia (4.7%), Pará (4.0%), Northeast region (2.7%), São Paulo (0.6%) and Santa Catarina (0.4%).   

In the cumulative result of 2012, the industrial output fell in nine of the 14 places surveyed. The decreases were registered in Amazonas (-7.0%), Espírito Santo (-6.3%), Rio de Janeiro (-5.6%), Paraná (-4.8%), Rio Grande do Sul (-4.6%), São Paulo (-3.9%), Santa Catarina (-2.7%), Ceará (-1.3%) and Pará (-1.1%). Conversely, Bahia (4.2%), Goiás (3.8%), Northeast region (1.7%), Minas Gerais (1.4%) and Pernambuco (1.3%) posted the positive results in the cumulative index of the year .

The complete publication of this survey can be accessed at www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/industria/pimpfregional/.

The evolution of the quarterly moving average for the national overall posted a negative change of 0.3% in the quarter ended in December against the previous month’s level, but with a slight reduction in the fall intensity in relation to last November’s index (-0.5%). Of note is that both negative results interrupted the positive behavior which has characterized this indicator since August 2012. By area, still concerning this index on margin, five of the 14 places surveyed also pointed out negative results, with a highlight to the drops recorded by Rio Grande do Sul (-2.2%) and Paraná (-2.1%). On the other hand, the greatest advances were seen in Goiás (3.8%), Bahia (2.5%), Espírito Santo (1.2%) and Santa Catarina (1.1%).

In the quarter over previous quarter index (seasonally adjusted), the industry overall also recorded drops in the producing pace, registering a negative change of 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2012, removing, thus, the 1.0% expansion seen in the July/September period.  Concerning areas, six of the fourteen places surveyed followed that movement and registered negative rates in the last quarter of 2012. The highlights were the sharpest contractions seen in Pernambuco (-5.3%), Paraná (-4.8%) and Rio Grande do Sul (-4.3%).  Conversely, Espírito Santo (4.1%), Bahia (3.7%), Minas Gerais (2.5%), Pará (2.4%) and Rio de Janeiro (1.1%) recorded the most significant advances in in 2012 in the October/December period.

In the comparison with the same month a year ago, the national industrial output shrank 3.6% in December 2012, with nine of the 14 places surveyed recording output decrease. It is worth highlighting that December 2012 (20 days) had two workdays less than the same month a year ago.  This month, the most substantial falls were seen in Paraná (-28.3%) and Rio Grande do Sul (-13.4%), pushed at a great extent by the negative behavior of the sectors publishing, printing and reproduction of recorded media (books) and motor vehicles (trucks, automobiles and tractor trucks) in the first palce and petroleum refinement and alcohol production (naphthas for petrochemical industries, diesel fuel and motor gasoline), motor vehicles (bodies for buses, trailers and semi-trailers and automobiles) and food, in the second. Espírito Santo (-9.8%), Amazonas (-6.0%), Pará (-3.4%), Rio de Janeiro (-3.1%), Ceará (-2.6%), Santa Catarina (-2.5%) and São Paulo (-1.5%) close the set of places that recorded negative rates. On the other hand, Bahia (20.6%) registered the sharpest advance in the month, leveraged at a great extent by the positive performance of the sectors of chemical products and of petroleum refinement and alcohol production, both mostly influenced by the low comparison base in December 2011. The other positive result were posted by Goiás (7.6%), the Northeast region(7.1%), Minas Gerais (4.1%) and Pernambuco (0.8%).

The industrial sector, down 0.6% in the fourth quarter of the year, has been posting negative results for five quarters in a row, but slowing down the falling pace from the second quarter 2012 on (-4.4%).   In the third quarter, the drop reached 2.6%, all comparisons against the same period a year ago. By area, between the periods July/September and October/December, ten of the 14 places surveyed recorded more dynamism, with a highlight to Goiás (from -5.5% to 4.4%), Bahia (from 2.0% to 9.6%), São Paulo (from -4.5% to 0.7%), Espírito Santo (from -8.7% to -4.8%), Santa Catarina (from -3.6% to -0.1%), Rio de Janeiro (from -5.7% to -2.5%) and Pará (from -4.8% to -1.6%); whereas Paraná (from -8.6% to -15.8%), Rio Grande do Sul (from -4.5% to -8.4%) and Pernambuco (from 0.9% to -2.9%)  had the most intense pace losses between the two periods.

In the accumulated indicator of January-December 2012, the reduction in the production affected the greatest part (nine) of the 14 places surveyed, with a highlight to Amazonas (-7.0%), Espírito Santo (-6.3%), Rio de Janeiro (-5.6%), Paraná (-4.8%), Rio Grande do Sul (-4.6%) and São Paulo (-3.9%), all of them posting drops above the national average (-2.7%). Santa Catarina (-2.7%), Ceará (-1.3%) and Pará (-1.1%) closed the set of places with negative rates in the end of 2012. In these places, the lowest dynamism was particularly influenced by the sectors related to the reduction in the output of durable consumer goods (motorcycles, air-conditioners, microwave ovens, mobile phones, watches, TV sets and automobiles) and of capital goods (especially transportation equipment and construction). Another relevant influence came from the lower production in the mining and quarrying sectors (iron ore), textiles, footwear and leather, apparel and basic metals.  Conversely, Bahia (4.2%), Goiás (3.8%), the Northeast region (1.7%), Minas Gerais (1.4%) and Pernambuco (1.3%) posted the positive results in the cumulative index of the year.