Brazil: Survey shows industrial growth in 11 states in May

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Industrial production in 11 of the 15 locations investigated by the Monthly Industrial Survey (PIM Regional) grew in May when the national index advanced 0.3%.

According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), which released the results on July 8, the largest increases occurred in Amazonas (6.6%) and Mato Grosso (4.6%).

Ceará (3.2%), Goiás (3.2%), Espírito Santo (2.8%), Santa Catarina (1.6%), and Rio Grande do Sul (0.7%) also recorded increases above the national average (0.3%).

The main highlight, however, was Paraná, with an increase of 3.5%. According to the research analyst Bernardo Almeida, after falling 4.1% in April, Paraná was the biggest positive influence on the national result in May.

“With the result, the state almost eliminated the loss in the previous month. The food sector was the one that most influenced the result in Paraná, followed by machinery and equipment, another very important sector in the state’s industry,” said Almeida. For him, there was a “spreading” of positive results in May.

Pará, with a negative rate of 13.2%, had the highest retreat, caused by the low performance of the extractive sector, which concentrates most of the industrial activity in the state. “This is the most intense negative result for the state since March 2020, when it reached a rate of -16%,” said the analyst.

The states of Rio de Janeiro and Pernambuco also had negative rates in May: -4.1% and -2.4%, respectively.

According to the Regional PIM, the second largest influence on the national result is the Amazonas industry, with 6.6% growth, the largest in absolute terms.

According to IBGE, the May high eliminates April’s 0.1% loss. “The highlights were the computer equipment industry, electronic and optical products, and the beverage sector, which influenced the growth of the Amazon industrial production.”

With a positive variation of 0.3%, São Paulo was the third-largest influence, following the percentage of the national index. For Almeida, the growth, considered shy, had the motor vehicles, machinery, and equipment sectors as a positive influence.

“This index does not suppress the loss suffered in the previous month of 3.6%. With this result of 0.3% from April to May, São Paulo is still 1.9% below its pre-pandemic level and 23.4% below the highest level of the historical series, in March 2011,” he added.

QUARTERLY AVERAGE

As for the quarterly moving average, which showed an index of 0.4%, there were positive rates in 11 of the 15 places surveyed. Amazonas (2.3%), Ceará (1.9%), Rio de Janeiro (1.3%), Bahia (1.2%), Mato Grosso (1.2%), Northeast Region (1.1%), and Goiás (0.8%) were the highlights.

Also, in this case, the main loss was Pará (-4.7%).

ACCUMULATED

From January to May, ten of the 15 locations surveyed fell, especially Pará (-11.9%), Santa Catarina (-6.6%), and Ceará (-6.2%).

Over the last 12 months, nine of the 15 states surveyed fell. Amazonas went from 1.5% to -1.8%; Ceará, from -3.7% to -6.5%; Minas Gerais, from 4.7% to 2%; Espírito Santo, from 4% to 1.3%; Santa Catarina, from 0.1% to -2.3%; São Paulo, from -0.8% to -3.0%; Pará, from -7.6% to -9.3%; and Rio Grande do Sul, from 2.1% to 0.4%.

These places showed the biggest losses between April and May this year, while Bahia, which went from -7.0% to -3.9%, and Mato Grosso, which went from 8.5% to 10.6%, had the biggest gains between the two periods.

RESEARCH

According to IBGE, since the 1970s, the Regional PIM has produced short-term indicators related to the behavior of the real product of the extractive and transformation industries.

“[The research] brings, monthly, indexes for 14 federation units whose participation is of, at least, 1% in the total value of the national industrial transformation and, also for the Northeast as a whole: Amazonas, Pará, Ceará, Pernambuco, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso, Goiás, and the Northeast Region,” concluded the institute.

With information from Agência Brasil