Basic metals output in Brazil down 8.9 percent in Feb

Brazil's national statistics agency, the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE), has reported that Brazilian industrial production fell 2.5 percent month on month in February this year, virtually eliminating the month-on-month rise of 2.6 percent registered in January. Compared with the same month of the previous year, in the seasonally adjusted series, the industry overall recorded a fall of 3.2 percent in February 2013, after increasing 5.5 percent in January.
 
In February, the 4.4 percent year-on-year decrease in Brazilian production of intermediate goods, which was the most significant decrease since September 2009 (-7.1 percent), was influenced to a large extent by the negative figures from products associated with the activities of the basic metals (-8.9%) and mining and quarrying industries (-9.9%).
 
In the production index in Brazil for the first two months of 2013, the growth was 1.1 percent for the overall industry on year-on-year basis. By increasing by 21.6 percent, the motor vehicle sector exerted the highest positive influence. The IBGE also mentioned the negative contribution of basic metals, which were down 6.7 percent year on year, in the total production index for the first two months of the current year.