Brasília – The optimism of Brazilian industrialists has remained stable in March compared with February. The Industrialists Confidence Index (Icei), calculated by the National Confederation of Industries (CNI), was 67.8 points last month, and dropped 0.1 down to 67.7 points in March.
Despite the retraction, the Confederation underscores that the index is still 8.9 points above the historical average, a level regarded as high by the technicians at the institution. The Icei ranges from zero to 100 points, and figures higher than 50 points indicate that the sector’s businessmen are confident.
As for the mood of industrialists regarding current economic conditions, according to the survey, there has been a reduction of 0.3 point, down from 61.3 in February to 61 in March. The expectation for the next six months, however, has remained stable at 71 points, which may mean that the growth will continue during the period, according to the technicians.
The highlight of the report published today is the extraction industry. The sector has grown for the fifth consecutive month and posted the highest increase in the survey, having gone from 66.1 to 67.8 points. The same does not hold true of civil construction, which dropped from 68.1 in February to 67.1 in March. The indicator has remained stable for the processing industry, at 66.3 points, with a 0.1 point decrease compared with February.
In order to conduct the survey, the CNI interviewed 1,599 companies (872 small, 496 medium and 231 large ones) from March 1st to 22nd.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum