Rio de Janeiro – While production of the Brazilian industry as a whole recorded a 0.2% drop in August compared with July, the capital goods industry output grew by 0.9%. It was the only one out of four existing industrial categories to record an increase in production, according to the Monthly Industrial Survey issued this Tuesday (4) by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
According to IBGE researcher André Macedo, the increased output of capital goods, a category which comprises machinery and equipment production, among other items, may signal an intention of expansion or modernization on the part of the industry.
“This may indicate greater investment and modernization of manufacturing plants, creating expectation of investment further on,” said Macedo.
Capital goods production had already grown by 2% in the previous month. In August, compared with the same month of last year, the output grew by 8.6%, a rate much higher than that of the general industry, which grew by 1.8%. Capital goods production grew by 5.6% year-to-date, and by 6.8% in the last 12 months.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
