12/04/2008 10h09
Sales of Machinery grow 29% until October
Gazeta Mercantil - 12/04/2008
The sales of capital goods should close 2008 with a growth of nearly 20%, according to the forecast of the Brazilian Machinery Manufacturers Association (Abimaq). It is the greatest growth since 2004 and it is guaranteed by a full order backlog, accumulated in the last two years. The figures still do not reflect the financial crisis that got worse in September. The sector, however, already starts feeling the fall in new orders, which shall have reflexes in the sales from the first quarter of 2009 on. A survey made by Abimaq between the 26 and 29 of November indicated that 69% of the companies interviewed registered an average drop in orders of 32.3%. One week before 64% of the companies informed the average fall was 24.7%. From the six segments surveyed, the most affected was the construction segment, which informed a fall of 47% in orders. It is followed by the consumption industries and agriculture, with a fall of 38% each, and the processing industry, with 29%. The order backlog in the energy industry fell 23%, and in the basic industry, 13%. In the estimate of the vice-president of the Abimaq Carlos Pastoriza that what is currently in the order backlog guarantees the sales for only two more months, and after the first quarter the sector of capital goods shall suffer with the economic shrinkage. Pastoriza does not risk making a forecast for 2009, due to the tides of uncertainties of this end of the year, but he believes the sector may remain stable compared to 2008. Among the sectors where the slowdown was harder, Pastoriza mentions the sugar and alcohol, car, and paper and pulp industries. Yesterday Abimaq released the results of the sector regarding to October. The sales in the accumulated in ten months reached R$ 65.4 billion, an increase of 29.7% compared to the same period from last year. The apparent consumption, which considers only the domestic sales plus imports, reached R$ 79.4 billion (US$ 34.5 billion), 37.3% higher. Until October, exports went 16.6% up, to US$ 10.3 billion, and imports were 47% higher, to US$ 18.4, which led to an increase of 120% in the trade deficit in the period from January to October, to US$ 8.1 billion.
