Sales of machines give signs of recovery in March
Gazeta Mercantil 05/07/2009
The fall in the sales of machine and equipment that has been taking place since December, starts pointing to a tendency of slowdown. The earnings of the capital goods industries fell 11.2% in March compared to the same month of 2008, according to data of the Brazilian Association of the Industry of Machines and Equipment (Abimaq). The reduction is already not as strong as that registered in February (-23%) and in January (-36.4%) compared to last year's same months.
Besides, the R$ 5.47 billion (US$ 2.49 billion) sold in March is 30.1% above that registered in February. "It seems that we hit rock bottom in January, and now we start our recovery", said the president of the Abimaq, Luiz Aubert Neto, emphasizing, however, the uncertainties for the next months. In the accumulated in the quarter, still influenced by the very bed performance of January and February, the sales of the sector amounted to R$ 13.64 billion (US$ 6.2 billion), a 25.3% fall compared to the same period of last year. It was the worst first quarter since 2005.