Between February and March, the regional indexes of the industrial output, in the seasonally adjusted series, increased in eight of the 14 places surveyed, with a highlight to Paraná (5.4%), Minas Gerais (4.4%), Pernambuco (2.6%), Rio de Janeiro (2.5%) and Amazonas (2.5%).

 All these places posted negative results last February: -1.3%, -11.0%, -3.2%, -1.5% and -1.1%, respectively. Bahia (0.8%), São Paulo (0.6%) and the Northeast region (0.5%) close the set of places that rose March’s output in 2013. Pará (-3.8%), Goiás (-2.8%), Rio Grande do Sul (-1.3%) and Ceará (-1.0%) marked the sharpest drops this month, whereas Santa Catarina (-0.7%) and Espírito Santo (-0.3%) recorded more moderate decreases. The complete publication of this survey can be accessed at www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/industria/pimpfregional/.

In the comparison with the same month a year ago, the national industrial output shrank 3.3% in March 2013, with a disseminated profile of negative results, since 11 of the 14 places surveyed registered output decrease (March 2013 had two less workdays than same month a year ago). This month, the sharpest negative rates were seen in Pará (-14.0%) and Espírito Santo (-13.1%), pushed by the negative behavior of mining and quarrying (iron and aluminum ore), basic metals (aluminum oxide) and pulp, paper and paper products (pulp), in the first locality, and basic metals (carbon steel ingots, blocks, billets and plates), food and beverages (cured pork and candibars) and mining and quarrying industries (iron ore), in the second. Ceará (-6.8%), Santa Catarina (-6.2%), Rio Grande do Sul (-5.3%), Paraná (-4.4%), Minas Gerais (-4.0%) and Pernambuco (-3.7%) close the set of places that posted falls sharper than the national average. The other negative rates were recorded in Goiás (-3.2%), São Paulo (-2.6%) and the Northeast region (-2.6%). On the other hand, Amazonas (1.6%), Bahia (1.4%) and Rio de Janeiro (1.1%) posted positive rates. 

In the  cumulative indicator for the first quarter of the year , the reduction in the national output (-0.5%) reached nine of the 14 places surveyed, with Espírito Santo (-11.5%) recording the largest loss, mainly reflecting the lower production in the sectors of basic metals, food and beverages and pulp, paper and paper products. The other negative rates were recorded in Pará (-5.7%), Paraná (-4.6%), Pernambuco (-2.6%), Santa Catarina (-2.5%), Minas Gerais (-1.5%), Amazonas (-1.1%), Rio Grande do Sul (-1.0%) and the Northeast region (-0.9%). Rio de Janeiro (5.7%), Bahia (2.2%) and Ceará (1.7%) had the most intense advances in the cumulative index for the three months of the year, whereas São Paulo (0.4%) and Goiás (0.4%) recorded more moderate positive rates.

In a quarterly basis, the industrial sector, shrinking 0.5% in the first quarter of 2013, has remained with negative results for six quarters in a row, and with a drop close to the one registered in the last quarter last year (-0.4%), both comparisons against the same period a year ago. In regional terms, between the periods of October-December and January-March, eight of the 14 places surveyed recorded a dynamism loss, with a highlight to Bahia (from 9.5% to 2.2%), Minas Gerais (from 5.5% to -1.5%), Espírito Santo (from -4.8% to -11.5%), Pará (from -1.6% to -5.7%) and Goiás (from 4.4% to 0.4%), whereas Paraná (from -15.8% to -4.6%), Rio Grande do Sul (from -8.6% to -1.0%), Rio de Janeiro (from -0.6% to 5.7%) and Amazonas (from -7.2% to -1.1%) registered gains at a more intense rate between the periods. 

The evolution of the quarterly moving average for the national overall posted a positive change of 0.3% in the quarter ended in March against the previous month’s level, after recording positive rates in January (0,4%) and February (0,1%). In regional terms, in relation to the movement of this index on margin, seven of the 14 places marked positive results, with a highlight for Paraná (4.0%), Rio Grande do Sul (2.7%) and Amazonas (1.2%). Pará (-3.0%), Minas Gerais (-1.9%), Bahia (-1.9%) and Goiás (-1.0%) posted the sharpest drops this month. In the seasonally adjusted series, a positive performance was also seen in the quarter-on-quarter comparison. The industry overall advanced 0.8% in the first three months of the year, removing the negative change of 0.1% recorded in the fourth quarter last year. In regional terms, nine of the 14 places followed that movement and posted positive rates in the first quarter of the year, with a highlight to the larger gains in Rio Grande do Sul (7.1%), Paraná (6.5%), Ceará (5.8%), Amazonas (2.7%), Pernambuco (2.5%) and the Northeast region (2.1%). Pará (-6.2%), Minas Gerais (-5.9%) and Espírito Santo (-5.6%) registered the greatest falls between January and March 2013.