In September, the machinery and equipment sector showed a slowdown. The sector’s total net revenue amounted to R$23.6 billion, which represented a drop of 12.7% compared to the previous month and 8.8% in the annual comparison. The data was released today (30) by the Brazilian Association of the Machinery and Equipment Industry (Abimaq). The fall was driven by the worsening of sales in the domestic market.
On the other hand, sales in the foreign market grew which, according to the association, offset part of the month’s drop. Exports totaled US$1.3 billion in September, which represented an increase of 37.8% compared to August and 12.3% compared to September last year. Imports, in turn, totaled US$2.6 billion, a decrease of 0.5% between August and September and an increase of 20.4% compared to the same month last year.
Apparent consumption in the machinery and equipment sector – which considers total domestic industrial production and imports, minus exports – fell 15% in the monthly comparison. Compared to September last year, there was an increase of 0.5%.
Busy staff
In September there was an improvement in the number of people employed in the sector, which totaled 397 thousand employees. Growth was 0.8% compared to August and 1.6% compared to September 2023.