In December 2013, the national industrial output posted decrease of 3.5% against the previous month, in the seasonally adjusted series - the second consecutive negative result in this type of comparison. The cumulative loss in the period amounted to 4.0% - the highest negative result of the series since December 2008 (-12.2%).

In the seasonally adjusted series, against the same month a year ago, the industry overall fell 2.3% in December 2013 - interrupting three months of consecutive positive rates in this type of comparison - and registered the strongest reduction since March 2013 (-3.3%).

At the end of the forth quarter of 2013, the results were negative both in relation to the same period of the previous year (-0.3%) and to the previous quarter (-0.8%), in the seasonally adjusted series.

In the cumulative index of 2013, the industrial sector advanced 1.2% over the same period in the previous year, after posting a 2.5% drop in 2012 and a slight positive change of 0.4% in 2011. The annualized rate, cumulative indicator over the last 12 months, expanding 1.2% in December 2013, registered a slight pace increase against October's (1.0%) and November's (1.1%) results.  The complete publication of the survey can be accessed at www.ibge.gov.br/english/estatistica/indicadores/industria/pimpfbr/.

22 out of the 27 segments surveyed recorded drops in December

The 3.5% drop of the industrial activity from November to December presented a widespread fall, reaching all categories of use and the majority (22) of the 27 sectors surveyed. Among the activities, the strongest negative influence was exerted by motor vehicles (-17.5%), especially reinforced by the granting of collective vacations in several companies of the sector. It is worth mentioning that this activity, after advancing 9.5% in the August-September period of 2013, hit this month the third consecutive negative result, accumulating in this period a 22.9% loss. Other important negative influences on the industry overall came from machinery and equipment (-6.2%), pharmaceuticals (-11.7%), oil refining and ethanol production (-4.3%), pressed by the strikes in the production facilities of the sector, and basic metals (-7.4%). It is worth highlighting (except for the first segment, which presented the second consecutive negative result and accumulated a 9.4% loss in the period) that the other activities posted positive rates in the prior month: 9.5%, 4.6% and 4.2%, respectively. Other relevant impacts occurred in the sectors of rubber and plastic products (-6.7%), office machinery and computer equipment (-14.2%), electrical machinery and apparatuses (-6.2%), footwear and leather products (-13.4%), fabricated metal products (-3.2%) and toiletries, soaps, detergents and cleaning products (-5.3%). On the other hand, among the five segments that increased the output, the most important performances to the overall average were seen in electronic material and communication equipment and apparatuses (10.6%) and wearing apparel and accessories (10.9%), the former marking the third consecutive positive result and accumulating in this period a 14.8% expansion, and the latter offsetting the downfall of 4.9% registered in November.

Among the categories of use, still considering the comparison with the previous month, capital goods, contracting 11.6%, posted the sharpest drop in December 2013, mainly influenced by the lower production of trucks and pushed to a great extent by the granting of collective vacation in several enterprises of the sector this month. It is worth highlighting that this fall was the most intense since January 2012 (-17.9%) and the second consecutive in this kind of comparison, accumulating in these two months a loss of 14.7%. The segments of intermediate goods (-3.9%), durable consumer goods (-3.0%) and of semi- and non-durable consumer goods (-2.3%) also registered negative rates this month, with the first segment recording the sharpest negative result since December 2008 (-12.2%) and offsetting the 2.6% gain accumulated between August and November; the second one eliminated the 0.3% increase registered in the previous month; the third segment interrupted two months in a row of output growth - a period in which it accumulated a 1.2% gain.

Quarterly moving average down – 1.2%

In the seasonally adjusted series, the evolution of the quarterly moving average index for the industry overall had a reduction of 1.2% in the quarter ended in December against the previous month, after recording positive rates of 0.3% in October and 0.1% in November. Among the categories of use, in relation to the movement of this index on margin, durable capital goods (-5.0%) recorded the sharpest drop in December and interrupted the upward trend started in July 2013. The segments of durable consumer goods (-1.5%), of intermediate goods (-0.7%) and of  semi- and non-durable consumer goods (-0.4%) also registered negative rates this month, with the first interrupting two consecutive months of positive results, when it accumulated a 0.6% gain; the second one broke the upward trend begun last September; and the third kept the sequence of four consecutive months of negative indexes.

Industrial production drops -2.3% in comparison with December 2012

In the comparison with the same month a year ago, the industrial sector fell 2.3% in December 2013, with prevalence of negative results, since 16 of the 27 segments posted drops in production. It is worth mentioning that October 2013 (21 days) had one more workday than the same month in the prior year (20). Among the activities, motor vehicles (-16.3%) and pharmaceuticals (-22.7%) exerted the greatest negative influences on the formation of the industry average, driven mainly by the reduction in the manufacture of cars, trucks, chassis with engine for trucks and buses, diesel engines for trucks and buses, tractor-truck for trailers and semi-trailers, car parts and vehicles for the transportation of goods, in the first activity and medicine, in the second one. Other negative relevant contributions to the national overall output came from publishing, printing and reproduction of recorded media (-11.2%), mining and quarrying (-6.3%), beverages (-6.8%), electrical machinery and apparatuses (-11.6%) and rubber and plastic products (-8.9%). Concerning products, the most important negative pressures in this segments were, respectively, books, newspapers and magazines; iron ores and crude petroleum oil; soft drinks and syrup preparations for beverages; electronic security alarm systems, optical fiber cables for telecommunications, AC or DC electric motors, electric wires, cables or conductors; and parts and accessories of rubber and plastic for the car industry. On the other hand, still comparing with December 2012, among the 11 activities that increased the output, the main impacts were seen in other chemicals (9.2%), electronic material and apparatuses and communication equipment (43.0%), machinery and equipment (6.4%), oil refining and ethanol production (3.4%) and other transportation equipment (10.0%), leveraged at a great extent by polyvinyl chloride (PVC), unsaturated ethylene, polypropylene (PP), low density polyethylene (LDPE) and herbicides for agricultural purposes, in the first segment; TV sets and mobile telephones, in the second one; motor graders, wheel loaders, self-propelled stacker forklifts, machinery and equipment for the pulp sector, forklift trucks, central air conditioners, excavators and harvesting machinery, in the third; diesel fuel and other fuel oils, ethyl alcohol and motor gasoline, in the fourth; and airplanes and motorcycles, in the last sector.

In the indexes by categories of use, still comparing with the previous year, the results were negative for durable consumer goods (-3.5%), semi- and non-durable consumer goods (-3.1%) and intermediate goods (-2.0%), whereas the production of capital goods, growing 1.8%, posted the only positive rate in December 2013.

The segments of durable consumer goods (-3.5%) and of semi- and non-durable consumer goods (-3.1%) posted the sharpest negative rates in the monthly index of December 2013. The first segment, with the third consecutive fall in this type of comparison, was influenced to a great extent by the lower manufacture of cars (-13.7%), white goods (-9.8%), other household appliances (-4.0%) and of furniture (-2.3%). On the other hand, that same category of use recorded positive impacts coming from brown goods (65.7%), motorcycles (19.2%) and mobile telephones (73.1%). The output reduction in semi- and non-durable consumer goods, marking the fifth negative result in a row in this kind of comparison and the sharpest fall since March 2013 (-7.6%) was attributed to drops seen in the n groups of other non-durable goods (-8.7%), food and beverage for household consumption (-1.5%) and of semi-durable goods (-1.4%). In these subsectors, the highlights were the lowest manufacture of books, medicine and newspapers, in the first; of concentrated orange juice and soft drinks, in the second; and of plastic articles for household use, glasses, leather sneakers, women’s pants and women’s synthetic footwear, in the last one. Conversely, the only positive contribution in this category of use was recorded by the group fuels (6.3%), driven by the advances in the production of ethyl alcohol and motor gasoline.

Still contrasting with the same month a year ago, the segment of intermediate goods (-2.0%) also posted a negative rate in December 2013, but less intense than the industry average (- 2.3%) In the composition of the rate this month, the segment was pushed by the negative results coming from products related to the activities of motor vehicles (-19.5%), mining and quarrying (-6.4%), rubber and plastic products (-8.9%), basic metals (-1.5%), pulp, paper and paper products (-1.6%), non-metallic mineral products (-1.0%) and textiles (-0.9%), whereas the positive influences were recorded by other chemicals (9.7%), oil refining and ethanol production (1.9%) and food products (2.1%). Still in this category of use, it is worth mentioning as well the negative indexes coming from the inputs for the civil construction (-0.3%), which interrupted three months of positive results, and of packages (-1.1%), which registered the second drop in a row in the monthly index.

The sector of capital goods, growing 1.8% in December 2013, had the 12th positive result in a row in the comparison with the same month a year ago but with the lowest pace of increase in the sequence. This month, the sector was particularly influenced by the expansion registered in the group capital goods for construction (225.3%), leveraged not only by the growth seen in all investigated products in this subsector, but also by the low base of comparison, since this group fell 66.1% in December 2012. It is also worth mentioning the positive indexes posted by the groups of capital goods for industrial use (5.8%), for agricultural use (3.4%) and for electricity (1.0%). The other subsectors had decrease in the output this month: capital goods for transportation equipment (-8.1%), which interrupted 11 month of consecutive positive results in this type of comparison, and for mixed use (-2.9%).

Q4 of 2013 changes -0.3%

In a quarterly basis, the industrial sector, showing a negative change of 0.3% in the fourth quarter of the year, interrupted two quarters in a row of positive results, since it had advanced 4.2% in the April-June period of 2013 and 0.9% in the following quarter - all comparisons against he same period in the previous year. Among the categories of use, the sector of capital goods, which moved from 15.6% in the third quarter of 2013 to 10.5% in the fourth, recorded the greatest pace of decline between the two periods, but it was the only one to register a positive rate in the last quarter of the year. It should be noted that in the index of the October-December period of 2013, all groups advanced, with a highlight to capital goods for construction (81.3%), for transportation equipment (5.7%), for industrial use (7.8%) and for agricultural use (15.1%). The segments of durable consumer goods (-2.4% to -4.3%) and of semi- and non-durable consumer goods ( 0.2% to -1.6%) also presented pace of decline between the two periods, the first one clearly influenced by the lower intensity in the manufacture of cars ( -5.8% to -11.1%), and the second, pushed by the reduction seen in food and beverages for household use (0.3% to -3.5%) and of semi-durable (5.5% to 0.2%). The sector of intermediate goods, moving from -0.5% in Q3 of 2013 to -0.4% in Q4, kept posting a negative rate, but with a slight decrease in the pace of decline between the two periods.

Industry advances 1.2% in the end of 2013

In the end of 2013, the industrial sector expanded 1.2%, explained, to a great extent, by the growth of 2.1% registered in the first semester, since the second semester marked a slight increase of 0.3%, all comparisons against the same period in the previous year. The cumulative index for the 12 months of 2013 posted positive rates in two of the four categories of use, 17 of the 27 sectors, 46 of the 76 subsectors and 52.2% of the 755 products surveyed. Among the activities, motor vehicles, which advanced 7.2%, exerted the biggest positive influence in the formation of the industry average, pushed to a great extent by the production growth in the majority (approximately 63%) of the products surveyed in the sector. The highlights are the largest manufacture of tractor trucks for trailers and semi-trailers, trucks, trailers and semi-trailers and vehicles for the transportation of goods. Other relevant positive contributions to the national total came from oil refining and ethanol production (7.3%), machinery and equipment (6.1%), other transportation equipment (8.0%), other chemicals (2.3%) and toiletries, soaps, detergents and cleaning products (5.5%). In terms of products, the most important positive pressures in these sectors came from, respectively, diesel fuel and other fuel oils, motor gasoline and ethyl alcohol; machinery and equipment for the pulp sector, motor graders, self propelled stacker forklifts, ball bearings for industrial equipment, air-conditioners, wheel loaders, agricultural tractors, elevators to transport people and harvesting machinery; airplanes;  polyvinyl chloride (PVC), sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), herbicides and pesticides for agricultural use; and surface-active preparations for washing and cleaning (industrial use), beauty creams, hair shampoos and soaps and detergents for household use. On the other hand, among the ten sectors that reduced the production, the main impacts were seen in printing and reproduction of recorded media (-10.2%), pharmaceuticals (-9.7%), mining and quarrying (- 4.1%), beverages (-4.1%) and basic metals (-2.0%). In these activities, the highlights was the lower production of books, newspapers and magazine, in the first; medicine, in the second; iron ores and crude petroleum oil, in the third; soft-drinks, beer and draft beer, in the fourth; and carbon steel rebar, non-alloy aluminum - unwrought, carbon steel ingots, blocks, billets and plates and aluminum oxide, in the last.

Among the categories of use, the profile of results for the cumulative index of 2013 showed more dynamism for capital goods (13.3%), leveraged by the positive results in all of its groups, with a highlight to the greatest manufacture of capital goods for transportation equipment (18,0%), influenced by the items tractor trucks for trailers and semi-trailers, trucks, airplanes, trailers and semi-trailers and vehicles for the transportation of goods. The producing sector of durable consumer goods, growing 0.7%, also had a rise at the end of 2013, but with a lower pace than that of the national average (1.2%). The production of intermediate goods (0.0%) was unchanged, whereas that of semi- and non-durable consumer goods, with a 0.5% reduction, presented the only negative result in 2013.