Agência CNI*
Florianópolis – After weak performance identified in September, industrial activity returned to growth in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina in October. According to study Industrial Indices in Santa Catarina, disclosed by the Federation of Industries of the State of Santa Catarina (Fiesc), disclosed today, industrial sales grew 15.05% in October in comparison with September.
All the sectors researched by the Fiesc posted increases in the volume of sales in the month, especially the garment industry (growth of 24.59%), food and beverages (19.83%) and machinery and equipment (16.19%), mainly due to greater demand and to proximity with the end of the year.
In the accumulated result for the year, the behaviour of industries remains positive, with growth of 8.06% in sales over the first ten months of 2006. The best performances in comparison with last year were observed in the sectors of food and beverages (up 18.84%), metal products (growth of 14.89%) and machinery and equipment (expansion of 13.21%).
The other indicators in the Fiesc study also rose strongly in October. The number of hours worked grew by 7.36% in comparison with September. Between January and October, however, the expansion has only been 1.62%. Income rose 4.78% in October as against the previous month and 8.67% in the accumulated result for the year as against the same period in 2006.
The use of the industrial installed capacity in Santa Catarina reached 83.68% in October, 1.21 percentage point above that registered in the first ten months of last year. Five sectors are using more than 90% of their production capacity: machinery, equipment and electric material (95.93%), ceramics (91.44%), food and beverages (91.42%), machinery and equipment (90.79%) and pulp and paper (90.34%).
*Translated by Mark Ament
