Importation of capital goods is generalized
Valor Econômico - 12/17/2007
Practically all sectors of the Brazilian economy are taking advantage of the cheap dollar to import machinery and equipment and modernize themselves. From the 38 sectors analyzed, only three - road, glass, and maritime - have reduced their purchases of capital goods from abroad from January to October of this year in relation to the same period in 2006, according to the survey of the Brazilian Machinery Manufacturers Association (Abimaq). This generalized importation, as economists assess, is a good sign for the future offer of industrial goods in the Country, as it reveals the productive investment is not concentrated in a few sectors. The growth rhythm of the different sectors of the economy is, however, quite different. In the comparison between January and October and the same period of 2006, the percentage of growth of the importation of capital goods per sector varies from 5.5% to 274%. Fernando Puga, BNDES's head of the department of the economic research area, assesses - based on the importation data - that civil construction is far one of the sectors that most increase the purchases of capital goods overseas. Several other sectors also increase the purchases of machines abroad. The industries of paper and paper products have increased by 258% the importation of capital goods, due to the increase of the productive capacity. The national industry of machinery and equipment has also increased the production and the local sales at a less intense pace, though. According to Abimaq, the sector sales increased 13% from January to October, to US$ 11 billion. The entity has informed that, due to the increase of the importations, the deficit of the sector may exceed US$ 4 billion in 2007.