Rio de Janeiro – Brazilian industrial output was up 2.9% in January 2014 from December 2013, according to the Monthly Industrial Survey released by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) this Tuesday (11th). The result reverses a downward trend which began in November, at -0.6%, and continued in November at -3.7%.
“Evidently, industry output picks up early on in the year. It has been a sizeable, significant increase, and yet it does not offset the losses from late last year. And we must note that it has been a widespread expansion,” says IBGE Industry Coordination manager André Macedo.
January-on-January, however, industrial production was down 2.4%. Production was up 0.5% over the past 12-month period, but down 0.5% in the past three months.
The capital goods industry grew the most in January from December, by 10%. Output from the consumer goods industry as a whole was up by 2.3%; durable goods production was up 3.8% and semi-durable and non-durable goods production was up 1.2%. Intermediate goods production was up 1.2%. Over the past 12 months, apart from capital goods, whose production was up 12.1%, output from other industries have declined at rates ranging from 0.2% to 1%.
The survey shows that 17 out of 27 industries saw an increase in output in January from December. Pharmaceuticals, up 29.4%, posted one of the highest increases, as did the auto industry, up 8.7%, turning around a downward trend which began in October.
The tobacco industry saw one of the sharpest declines in output, at 47.6%. Other industries whose production was down include chemicals (-2.5%), ethanol (-2.2%) and metal products (-2.7%).
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
