Brazil's industrial production shows stable growth

Brazil’s industrial production shows stable growth

Brazil's January 2005 industrial production fell 0.5% month-on-month, but rose 6.0% year-on-year. The 0.5% decrease for January is considered a result of the seasonal changes, while the year-on-year 6% rise shows a stable increase. The annual rate, an indicator of the previous twelve months, also came out strong. The annual rate through January 2005 showed growth of 8.5%, which is the highest rate since July 1995's 10.0%. When compared with January 2004, a majority of industrial activities –23 of 27– posted increases. Among the industries that saw the highest increases were automotive (14.2%) and household appliances (15.2%). The capital property sector, which has a 6.8% share in the overall industrial figures, posted an above-average 6.0% year-on-year increase. Within this sector, construction machinery and equipment production rose 34.8%, transportation machinery and equipment production rose 19.4% and power production rose 19.3%. On the other hand, agricultural machinery and equipment production fell 20.0%. Thanks to continual expansion in both the automotive industry and machinery and equipment production, Brazil's semi-finished steel production and flat steel production rose 4.4% and 3.5% respectively in the past year. Moreover, cast iron production jumped 19.1% during the same period. Due to the insatiable demand for iron ore, iron ore mining grew 11.5% in the last twelve months to become the strongest branch of industry.