São Paulo Industry grows 3.4% and leverages the Country
O Estado de S. Paulo - 03/11/2008
The production of the São Paulo industry started the year with results much above the national average and returned to the record level in January, informed the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). There was an increase of 3.4% in January in comparison with December, the best result since October, 2003, and 15.2% compared to January, 2007, considered the greatest increase in this base of comparison since September, 2004. Among the 14 surveyed regions in the Country, 13 showed positive results in comparison with the same month of 2007. Isabella Nunes, from the IBGE's coordination office for the industrial sector, explained that the industry of the State of São Paulo, which is responsible for 40% of the national production, represented the Country's greatest impact of expansion compared to last year's December and January, 2008 (1.8 and 8.5% in the national average, respectively, according to the data presented by IBGE last week). With January's result, she says, the State recovered the losses of November and December and resumed the record level of October. The greatest influence of the expansion in São Paulo in January, compared to the same month of 2007, came from vehicles, with 30%. Besides vehicles, chemical products (22.6%) and machinery and equipment (10.7%) also stood out in the local industry. In a report, economists of the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (Iedi) point out that the "São Paulo boom" has been one of the determining factors of the stronger rhythm of the Brazilian industry between December, 2007 (growth of 6.3% compared to the same month of the previous year) and this year's January. Isabella observed that the good results of the national industry in January were confirmed by the regional data. The States that grew above the national average compared to the same month of 2007, such as Paraná (19.7%), Amazonas (17.9%), São Paulo, and Minas Gerais (10.2%), suffered, just like all other states, strong influence from capital goods and vehicles, from the recovery of the agricultural sector, with prominence for commodities, such as iron ore and sugar.