São Paulo – Manaus Industrial Hub posted 27.5% growth in exports in the first half of this year as against the same period in 2007. Foreign sales of the companies installed in the site, in the state of Amazonas, generated US$ 568.5 million in revenues from January to June this year, against US$ 445.7 million in the same months in 2007, according to Manaus Free Zone Superintendence (Suframa).
The products that contributed most to the performance were mobile telephones. There was also constant growth in sales of concentrates for soft drinks and motorcycles. Suframa, which is responsible for the hub, has been making efforts to further exports of local companies to the United States, as well as to neighbouring countries.
The first half of this year was also good for the hub in other indices. Industry posted revenues of US$ 15.052 billion in the half, a volume 31.46% greater than that traded in the same period last year, when revenues reached US$ 11.450 billion.
Due to this, the Hub also generated more jobs. Based on figures supplied by 411 companies, the area is employing in its production lines a total of 105,431 workers. "When considering all the factories, over 550, direct jobs exceeded 110,000 work posts. Apart from these, there area another 400,000 plus indirect jobs generated," stated Suframa superintendent Flávia Grosso.
Among the items that posted greater production are liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions. From January to July, factories in the hub produced 913,355 units, 249.06% more than in the same period last year. Flat screen plasma televisions registered growth of 48.15% in production in comparison with the same period last year, rising from 82,239 to 121,833 units.
There was also growth of 28.6% in motorcycle, moped and motorized bicycle production, from 947,684 to 1,219,236 units in the first half. Mobile telephony equipment, compact disc players, microcomputers, wrist and pocket watches, car radios and audio playback equipment, set-top boxes, telephones and electronic games also posted good growth.
*Translated by Mark Ament
