FX.co ★ Brazil Industrial Production Contracts 0.3%

Brazil's industrial production decreased at the beginning of the year, primarily as a result of significant declines in the production of pharmochemical and pharmaceutical goods as well as the automotive industry, preliminary data from the statistical office IBGE showed on Thursday.

Industrial production dropped 0.3 percent monthly in January, after showing no variations in December. That was also in line with economists' expectations.

With these results, the Brazilian industry is still 2.3 percent below the pre-Covid-19 pandemic level and 18.8 percent below the record level for the series, in May 2011, the IBGE said.

Among the activities, the most negative contribution came from the production of pharmochemical and pharmaceutical products, which fell by 13.0 percent.?This was followed by the automobile industry with a decline of 6.0 percent.

On the other hand, a 1.8 percent positive upturn was seen in the mining sector in January compared to last month.

On an annual basis, industrial production advanced a calendar-adjusted 0.3 percent in January, reversing a revised 0.4 percent fall in December. Nonetheless, that was slower than the expected rebound of 1.3 percent.