Industry sales grow for the 5th month in a row
Folha de S. Paulo - 01/16/2008
Industrial sales had an increase of 0.7% in November in comparison with October, after deducting the seasonal effects, thus being the fifth consecutive month of growth, according to a survey from the CNI (National Confederation of the Industry). In the comparison with November, 2006, it was a 6.8% increase. The sales' increase occurred simultaneously to the greatest level of utilization of the installed capacity, which reached the record level of 82.9% in November. For this year, the entity expects growth of 5% in the industrial area. The CNI does not see the evolution of the utilization of the industrial park as a factor of concern in terms of pressure of prices or a reason for the Central Bank to strengthen the monetary policy because it considers that the investments in progress will occur in time to expand the industries' capacity to meet the demand. Another argument pointed out by the entity's team of economists is that the use of the capacity tends to reduce between January and March. One of the Central Bank's concerns, while putting a stop to the fall in the basic interest rate, was: will the investments increase the production in time to meet an eventual consumption raise?