10.9% of industrial production fell in Brazil



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Brazilian industrial production collapsed 10.9% in May compared with April, due to a truckers strike that paralyzed the country in the last 10 days of this month, according to official sources.

the automotive sectors, down nearly 30%, and that of food products (-18.1%).

The mobilization of truckers – to protest, among other things, against the high prices of diesel-generated blockades in the main roads of the country and drove farmers to throw milk and slaughter animals, measures which have had an impact on the entire economy of Brazil. Of the 26 sectors following the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), 24 were located in negative territory.

The only two categories with positive numbers were those of coke, petroleum derivatives and biofuels, and the mining industry, segments that do not depend so much on roads for their transportation .

"Strikes have altered the production process itself, both through the supply of basic materials and the logistics of production" The IBGE Economist

The overall decline is however lower than the average forecast of a 14% decline on the basis of 30 financial institutions and analysts consulted by the business daily Valor

. down since December 2008 (-11.2%), when the largest Latin American economy faced the storms of the global economic and financial crisis

. In 2017, the decline was 6.6%, the highest since October 2016 (-7.3%), while the country was plunged into recession for almost two years, said the IBGE.

Compared with April, all categories recorded declines such as equipment goods (-18.3), consumer goods (-15.4%, with -27.4% in the sub-category). -category of durable goods) and intermediate goods (-5.2%).

24 of the 26 sectors also lost ground examined, starting with the manufacture of automobiles, trailers and bodywork (-29.8%) and food products (-18.1%).

The only increases were in the production of coke, petroleum products and biofuels (6.3%) and in the extractive industries (2.3%).

April data strongly slowed the pace of industrial recovery, which had increased by 2.5% in 2017.

From January to May, the increase was 2% the same period of the previous year. The comparison from January to April was 4.5%

In the 12 months accumulated, growth was 3% (it was 3.9% in April).

The market, which predicted a month ago Industrial output expansion of 3.80% this year, has reduced the estimate to 3.17%, according to the latest weekly Focus survey conducted by the Central Bank (BCB).

The carriers' strike, against the rise in diesel prices, also accentuated the slowing forecasts of Brazil's economic recovery, already affected by the political uncertainties facing the October elections and by the External instability.

The BCB cut last week by 1 percentage point, from 2.6 to 1.6%, its GDP growth forecast in 2018. (With information from AFP and Reuters)

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