Brasília – Industrial production in Brazil dropped 2.5 points in February, ending the month at 46.1, as against 48.6 points in January. The index ranges from zero to 100 and, when below 50, it shows a drop in production.
Despite the drop, the research shows that stocks have remained at a level close to planned and “expectations for the next six months became more optimistic in March with regard to demand, purchases of raw material and, mostly, volume exported”. The demand index rose from 59.8 points to 60.7, in comparison with the February study.
In the month, use of installed capacity was 70%, one percentage point below that recorded in the same period in 2012. The figures are part of the Industrial Analysis, disclosed on Thursday (28) by the National Confederation of Industries (CNI), which heard 1.818 companies (664 small, 694 medium and 460 large) between the 1st and 13th of this month.
Export expectations rose from 53.9 to 54.6 points, the highest value since July 2012. In a press statement, the executive manager at the Research and Competitiveness Unit at CNI, Renato da Fonseca, said that "despite the weak performance in February as against January, the highlight is optimism [with] exports over the next six months, which shows a return to sales of manufactured products, additional and important stimulus for recovery of industry in the first half of the year.”
With regard to the level of employment, the index climbed from 48.7 to 49.8 points. Despite the labour expectation index having dropped slightly, from 53.5 points to 53.3 points, the research showed stability in sector optimism.
*Translated by Mark Ament
