São Paulo – The Brazilian road implement industry – trailers, semitrailers, interlink-semitrailers and bodies on chassis – ended the year of 2008 with production of 138,379 units, registering growth of 25.65% over 2007.
The sector answers to around 54,000 direct and indirect jobs and had revenues of 6 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 2.6 billion), as against 3.5 billion (US$ 1.5 billion) in the previous year, considering sales of equipment and parts.
"Were it not for the cooling of the market after October 2008, due to the global crisis, the sector’s financial result could have been worse," said Rafael Wolf Campos, president at the National Association of Producers of Road Equipment (Anfir), in a press statement.
According to Mário Rinaldi, the executive director at Anfir, of the total production registered in 2008, the domestic market absorbed 131,149 units and exports answered to 7,230 units, growth of 2.45% when compared to 2007. "This distribution is similar to that registered in the previous year," says the press statement.
To the director, one of the factors that interfered positively in the sector performance in 2008 was the good performance of agribusiness. The 2007/2008 grain crop presented a record value and reached 143.8 million tonnes. Up to half of last year, the price of commodities helped Brazilian producers capitalise and make investment.
The greater consumption of fuels, the elevation of alcohol exports, changes in legislation and greater use of highway transport in logistics of biodiesel and alcohol were mainly responsible for the growth of sales of carbon steel and aluminium tanks.
Reflex of the Crisis
According to the director at Anfir, following the example of the other sectors of the Brazilian economy, the global crisis started generating a negative influence on the sector of road implements in October last year, when production registered a reduction of 2.21% over September. In November, the cooling of the lorry market made the industry post more significant drops, reaching 20.46% in the trailer and semi trailer sector and 22.01% in bodies on chassis.
According to Campos, the sector of road equipment is living a difficult moment. The main associates have already announced reduction of their work shift and salaries to avoid dismissals. The sales of trailers and semitrailers in the month of January this year reached 2,238 units, which represented a reduction of 26.7% when compared to the 3,053 units for December, and 34.58% less than the 3,421 implements shipped in the same month in 2008. In the case of bodies on chassis, the sector registered the number plating of 4,031 units in January 2009, a volume 21.10% below the 5,109 units number plated in the same period last year and a reduction of 25.32% over the 5,398 items of road equipment licensed in December 2008.
"The reduction in the price of agricultural commodities and the lack of credit, added to the lower demand due to the international crisis, caused the demand for road implements to suffer retraction over the last four months. Considering the current situation of the market, sector businessmen believe that the most probable scenery for the year of 2009 is for it to be closer to the figures for 2007," said the president.
*Translated by Mark Ament
