The Brazilian machinery and equipment industry had, in February, a drop of 7.8% in net sales revenue compared to the same month last year, with R$ 21.76 billion in sales. It is the ninth consecutive fall, according to data released this Monday (27) by the Brazilian Machinery and Equipment Industry Association (Abimaq). As a result, in the first two months of the year, the sector accumulated a drop of 7.1%. In comparison with the previous month, however, there was an increase of 7%.
According to the Abimaq, after falling 2% in January, in the following month, the sector had a recovery of 2.7% in the occupation of the installed capacity, reaching 77.6% of its level. Despite the recovery, the sector’s capacity was 2% below the 2022 level (79.2%).
Job
The Abimaq reported that, even with the drop in revenues in the first two months, the sector increased the number of people hired to just over 4,000. The headcount grew 0.5%, when compared to the number of workers in January, reaching a total of 394 thousand people employed in the machinery and equipment industry.
According to the Abimaq, it was the second month of recovery in hiring, after a drop in the last quarter of last year. “The machinery industries that supply the durable and semi-durable consumer goods, civil construction and infrastructure sectors contributed to the increase in hiring,” says the association.
Exports
The year 2023 began with an increase in exports of almost all types of machinery, in the interannual comparison, with the exception of machinery for consumer goods, whose foreign sales fell by 0.9%.
The highlight was the sector of machines for logistics and civil construction, which grew 39.2% in the period – this sector accounted for 30% of total machine exports in the period.
The component export sector for the capital goods industry also stood out, accounting for 24.2% of the total and registering growth of 33.5%.
