The Brazilian processing industry saw its main indicators drop to the lowest levels for an October since 2013, according to the National Confederation of Industry.
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Real revenues scored 111.4 points, down 4% from September. The score had been 129.2 points in October 2014 and 128.3 points in October 2013.
The employment and hours worked indices were down 0.9% and 0.7% in October from September, to 102.8 and 90.5 points. Both numbers declined for the ninth month straight, and both are the poorest results in two years for an October.
Real total wages paid were down 1% in October from September, to 117.9 points. It was also the worst result since October 2013. CNI said “shrinkage in jobs and wages is a result of a sharp decline in industrial activity.” The numbers are seasonally adjusted.
Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the sum of all goods and services produced in the country, shrank 1.7% in quarter three from quarter two this year.
The number was by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) and is the highest Q3 shrinkage rate ever since records started being kept in 1996.
GDP was down 4.5% in Q3 from Q3 2014, and down 2.5% in the 12 months ended September. Year-to-date in 2015, Brazil’s GDP shrank 3.2%.
Agriculture was down 2.4%, industry was down 1.3% and services were down 1%. IBGE numbers also show family consumption dropped 1.5%, while government consumption shrank 0.3%.
Brazil’s imports declined more than its exports in November, leading to a $1.197 billion trade surplus. Year-to-date through November, the country posted a $13.442 billion surplus, the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade reported this Tuesday (1st) in the federal capital Brasília.
In November, exports reached $13.806 billion, averaging $690.3 million a day, down 11.8% from a year ago.
Brazil saw its exports shrink across all three product categories. In November, the country exported $5.864 billion worth of basic goods, down 14.3% from 2014. Semi-finished goods exports fetched $2.016 billion, down 13.5%. Finished goods exports dropped 7% to $5.572 billion.
Basic goods exports declined the most for crude oil (down 51.2% to $672 million), iron ore (down 43% to $901 million), copper ore (down 21.1%, to $97 million) and coffee beans down 19.5% to $461 million).
The semi-finished goods whose exports shrank the most were semi-finished iron/steel (down 52.8% to $135 million) and ferroalloys (down 36.9% to $137 million). Finished goods exports that saw the sharpest declines were land-leveling machinery (down 40.6% to $84 million), flat-rolled steel (down 26.8% to $138 million) and auto parts (down 21.4% to $166 million).
The only market whose imports from Brazil increased in November was Asia. Sales were up 5.2%, fueled by China’s imports of soybean, centrifuges, meats, ferroalloys, and aluminum oxides/hydroxides. Sales to all other destinations went down. Brazil’s exports to the Middle East dropped 24.4%, and sales to Africa declined 22.6%.
Brazil imported $12.609 billion worth of goods in November, averaging $630.5 million per day. The average is 30.2% lower than in November of last year. Imports dropped the most for fuels and lubricants (down 39.6%), consumer goods (down 33.6%), capital goods (down 32.3%) and raw materials and intermediate goods (down 24.6%). Brazil’s imports from all parts of the world went down. Imports from the Middle East dropped 51.6%, and imports from Africa dropped 25.1%.
Year-to-date through November, $174.351 billion worth of products were exported from Brazil, down 14.9% from the comparable period in 2014. Imports dropped 23.1% to $160.909 billion until November. Year-to-date through November of last year, Brazil ran a $4.348 billion trade deficit. ■
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