In the seasonally-adjusted series, the growth of 1.4% in the national industrial output between April and May caused positive rates in 11 out of 15 places surveyed. The highest rises were in Goiás (4.8%), Minas Gerais (4.6%), Ceará (4.4%) and Rio de Janeiro (4.3%). Eight places retreated in the quarterly moving average. Twelve out of 15 places surveyed rose against May 2020.

In the seasonally-adjusted series, the rise of 1.4% in the industrial activity between April and May 2021 was followed by 11 out of 15 places surveyed. The scenario changed in relation to April, when 10 out of 15 places registered negative figures.

In May 2021, the highest rises occurred in Goiás (4.8%) and Minas Gerais (4.6%), which offset the retreats of 1.7% and 0.7% recorded in April, followed by Ceará (4.4%) and Rio de Janeiro (4.3%), which stepped up their advances of 3.0% and 1.6% in the previous month. São Paulo (3.9%), which exerted the major positive influence on the national average together with Mato Grosso (3.4%) and Espírito Santo (2.1%), were the other advances above the national average (1.4%). Pernambuco (1.4%), Amazonas (0.5%), Rio Grande do Sul (0.3%) and Santa Catarina (0.1%) were the other places with positive indexes.

On the other hand, the Northeast Region (-2.8%) posted the most intense decline this month, registering the sixth consecutive negative rate and accruing a reduction of 22.2% in the period. The other drops occurred in Pará (-2.1%), Bahia (-2.1%) and Paraná (-1.4%), which exerted the major negative influence on the overall industry in May.

Compared with May 2020, the industry grew 24.0%, with rises in 12 out of 15 places, considering that May 2021 (21 days) had one more business day than the same month a year ago (20). The high positive figures were influenced by a low comparison basis, since a number of industrial plants were shut down in May 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It should be reminded that May 2020 recorded the second worst level in industry in the entire time series of the survey, started in 2002, losing only to April 2020.

Amazonas (98.2%) and Ceará (81.1%) posted the highest rises against May 2020. Santa Catarina (38.7%), Espírito Santo (37.9%), Minas Gerais (32.3%), São Paulo (31.4%) and Rio Grande do Sul (29.3%) also registered more intense advances than the industry average (24.0%). And Paraná (23.7%), Rio de Janeiro (15.1%), Pernambuco (13.3%), Pará (4.7%) and the Northeast Region (3.7%) were the other places with positive indexes.

In contrast, the most intense drop was in Bahia (-17.7%), pressed, to a great extent, by the negative behavior coming from the activity of coke, petroleum products and biofuels. Mato Grosso (-2.2%) and Goiás (-0.3%) also recorded negative rates compared with the same month last year.

The quarterly moving average for the industry retreated 0.8% in the quarter ended in May 2021 over the level of the previous month and 8 out of 15 places surveyed reported negative rates. The steepest declines were in Bahia (-8.5%), the Northeast Region (-6.2%), Ceará (-4.5%), Rio Grande do Sul (-2.4%), Santa Catarina (-1.1%), Pernambuco (-1.0%) and Paraná (-1.0%). On the other hand, the major advance were in Amazonas (3.2%), Minas Gerais (1.9%), Espírito Santo (1.5%) and Goiás (1.3%).

The cumulative indicator in the year, over the same period of 2020, showed rises in 11 out of 15 places surveyed, highlighted by Amazonas (27.1%), Santa Catarina (26.7%), Ceará (25.3%) and Rio Grande do Sul (22.6%). In addition, Paraná (20.0%), São Paulo (18.4%) and Minas Gerais (18.1%) also registered rates above the average (13.1%). The other rises were in Pernambuco (10.1%), Espírito Santo (7.6%), Pará (4.0%) and Rio de Janeiro (1.9%).

In contrast, Bahia (-16.3%) recorded the most intense drop in the cumulative indicator in the year, mainly due to the negative behavior coming from the activities of coke, petroleum products and biofuels (fuel oil, diesel fuel and naphtha for petrochemistry) and of motor vehicles, trailers and bodies (cars and car pieces). Mato Grosso (-5.3%), Goiás (-4.2%) and the Northeast Region (-0.5%) also declined.

In the cumulative indicator of the last 12 months, the advance of 4.9% of the national industry was followed by ten out of 15 places surveyed. The major gains were in Amazonas, changing from 4.2% in April to 13.3% in May; in Ceará, changing from 2.8% to 10.8%; in Santa Catarina, from 6.5% to 12.0%; in Rio de Grande do Sul, from 4.8% to 9.7%; in São Paulo, from 1.4% to 6.3%; in Espírito Santo, from -9.2% to -4.3%; in Minas Gerais, from 4.6% to 8.5%, and in Paraná, from 5.0% to 8.5%. On the other hand, Goiás (from -0.1% to -0.4%) was the only with loss between the two periods.