Brazil: industrial production starts the year in the negative

By Artur Piva

Monitoring the sector’s production, the monthly Industrial Survey (PIM) data remained negative in March for the year-to-date.

The quarter marks the beginning of President Lula’s 3rd mandate.

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) released the results on Wednesday 10.

In March, there was an increase concerning the previous month (1.1%), but it was the first positive result in the monthly comparison, according to IBGE information.

In January, the indicator closed at -0.2%; in February, the record was -0.3%.

With two consecutive months of decline and only one of high, industrial production was negative 0.4% in the accumulated first quarter.

“The first two months of 2023 were marked by decline, although there was no dissemination of the negative result among activities,” said André Macedo, manager of the Survey.

“In March, most activities were also in the positive field, and the industry marked a growth that had not been seen since October last year (1.3%).”

“So there is an improvement in the behavior of industrial production, especially considering this higher magnitude growth.”

However, the expert clarifies that the sector “is still far from recovering the losses of the recent past.”

According to IBGE, the institute has been elaborating indicators on industrial production since 1970.

They have monitored both the transformation and extraction industries.

With information from Revista Oeste

News Brazil, English news Brazi, Industry, IBGE