Brazil industrial output up in January

Brazil’s industrial production went up 0.9 percent in January, after two consecutive months on the wane, as per the government’s statistics agency IBGE. Growth was seen in 13 of the 15 locations surveyed.

São Paulo—the country’s biggest industrial complex—stood out, having expanded 2.3 percent, pulling up the indicator. “São Paulo’s industry had been negative for two months, during which it accumulated a reduction of 3.7 percent. January’s result was the highest since August 2019 (3.2%). This increase was boosted by the sectors of automobiles, machines and equipment, and metallurgy,” said Bernardo Almeida, the analyst in charge of the research.

Rio de Janeiro was reported to have the second biggest influence on the rate, up 3.9 percent, driven up by vehicles and oil derivatives. “This led Rio de Janeiro to tackle the fall registered in December (-3.9%),” Almeida said, adding that the figure was the highest since July last year.