Brazilian micro and small companies performed well in the second quarter of 2022, but they are concerned about the lack or the high cost of inputs used as raw materials, according to a survey released today (1st) by the National Confederation of Industry (CNI).
According to the Panorama of Small Industry, smaller companies perceive an improvement in their financial situation, compared to the same quarter in previous years.
“Entrepreneurs remain optimistic and the outlook for small industry remains at a positive level”, indicates the CNI document, informing that the “average performance of the quarter” in 2022, for small industry, was 47.4 points.
The result for the second quarter is above the one noted in the first quarter of 2022 (45.5 points), as well as the average for the second quarter of 2021 (46.5 points).
In June, the performance index registered 47.5 points, an increase of 4.8 points compared to the average of the months of June for previous years. The Small Industry Panorama is a quarterly survey that lists four indicators: performance, financial situation, prospects and confidence index. All indices range from zero to 100 points. The higher it is, the better the performance of the sector.
Raw material
The indication of optimism, however, is accompanied by “concern about the lack or high cost of raw materials that continues to rise for small industry”, which points out this problem as a “challenge for micro and small Brazilian industries”.
In the second quarter of this year, the lack or high cost of raw materials was the “most highlighted problem” with 51.8% of the citations in the ranking that covers small companies in the extractive, transformation and construction sectors, followed by a high load. tax (35.8%). Third, among the main problems faced by small industry is the concern about “insufficient domestic demand”.
“The problem [de falta ou alto custo da matéria-prima] continues in first place for all industrial segments and, despite having suffered a reduction in the indications for transformation (-6.9 percentage points) and for extractive and (-6.8 percentage points), the percentage increased for the construction (+5.4 percentage points) in the second quarter of 2022”, informs the survey.
finances and prospects
For CNI, the Financial Situation Index of small industries had a “slight improvement”, reaching 41.2 points in the second quarter of 2022, an index that presents an increase of 0.2 point in comparison with the first quarter.
The Industrial Entrepreneur Confidence Index (ICEI) for small industry showed “relatively high and widespread confidence”, since, since the beginning of the year, confidence “continues to fluctuate above the historical average of 52.8 points around the 57.0 points”, informed the CNI.
The Small Industry Outlook Index pointed to a drop of 0.9 point in July 2022, going to 51.3 points. This index assesses entrepreneurs’ perceptions for the coming months.
The CNI survey is quarterly and is based on the analysis of small industry data collected from the Industrial Survey, the Construction Industry Survey and the Industrial Entrepreneur Confidence Index (Icei). The surveys hear, every month, about 900 entrepreneurs of small businesses.
