Industrial activity in Rio Grande do Sul grows 1.3% in November

The Rio Grande do Sul Industrial Performance Index (IDI-RS), a thermometer of the sector’s activity level in the State, grew again in November: 1.3% in a seasonally adjusted comparison with October. The rise in the month partially recovered the losses of September (-1.8%) and October (-1.5%), keeping the index well above (+12.7%) the pre-pandemic (February 2020).

The result, disclosed by the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio Grande do Sul (FIERGS) this Wednesday (18), was driven by increases in real revenue (+4.9%) and industrial purchases (+4.2% ) and, to a lesser extent, the real wage bill (+0.3%) and the use of installed capacity-UCI (+0.4 pp), which reached 81.4%, while hours worked in production (-1 .5%) and employment (-0.2%) fell, always in relation to the previous month, seasonally adjusted.

“Industrial activity in Rio Grande do Sul still reflects the favorable scenario that prevailed in the second half of last year, especially the measures to stimulate demand, the expressive performance of industrial exports and agribusiness, the reduction of costs and the gradual attenuation of problems in supply chains. supplies”, explains the president of Fiergs, Gilberto Porcello Petry.

“The perspective, however, is one of instability in the coming months, due to the effects of high interest rates, the end of the deflationary cycle, lack of business confidence and economic uncertainty in the face of the challenging fiscal framework”, he emphasizes.

In comparisons with 2021, the performance of the IDI-RS remains positive, but already shows some deceleration. In relation to November, it grew 2.9%, in the 27th consecutive increase in this metric (same month of the previous year), reducing the accumulated rate of 2022 to 4.8% (it was 5.0% until October). With the exception of Installed Capacity Utilization (UCI), which fell 1.1 pp in the comparison between the periods from January to November 2021 (average of 83% occupancy) and 2022 (81.9%), all other components of the IDI-RS grew: hours worked in production (+8.8%), real revenue (+5.8%), industrial purchases (+3.3%), employment (+6.1%) and real wage bill ( +10.6%).

Of the 16 sectors surveyed, nine grew from January to November 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. The industries of Motor Vehicles (+18.7%), Leather and Footwear (+13.4%), Machinery and Equipment (+9 .4%) and Food (+3.2%) led the growth of activity in the state’s industry in 2022, while the Chemicals (-4.0%), Metal Products (-2.9%) and Furniture ( -5.7%) provided the greatest negative impacts.