In January 2023, the Brazilian machinery and equipment industry recorded a 6.4% drop in net sales revenue compared to the same month of the previous year, with R$ 20.25 billion in sales. This is the eighth consecutive fall, according to data released this Tuesday (28) by the Brazilian Machinery and Equipment Industry Association (Abimaq).
The fall is related to the retreat in the sector’s installed capacity. Last month, industries operated at 75.5% of capacity. According to the data, there was a drop of 2% in installed capacity compared to January last year. “The worsening observed in industrial activities in general and in the agricultural sector led to a contraction in investments in machinery and equipment in recent months. This movement continued at the beginning of this year”, says the entity.
“With this, the year 2023 begins with the worst performance of the last three years, reinforcing the perception of a slowdown in the sector”, he says. For the Abimaq, the sector’s performance this year will depend on the national economy, the amount of credit available and the cost to producers.
Job
Even with the drop in billing, the association informs that the sector maintained the hiring processes in January. The headcount grew by 0.7% when compared to the number of workers in December 2022. The increase represents more than 390 thousand people employed in the machinery and equipment industry.
Between January 2022 and January 2023, vacancies were approximately 5,000.
Exports
At the beginning of the year, there was an increase in exports of all types of machines in the interannual comparison, with more than US$ 1 billion in sales. The highlight is logistics and civil construction machinery, which grew by 59.9% in the period. This sector accounted for 32.6% of total exports in the period.
Imports fell by 4.1% in relation to the previous month. However, there was an increase of 15.5% compared to January. “The level of imports returned to the level observed in the period prior to the financial crisis that started in 2015, around US$ 2 billion”, says a note from the Abimaq.
