Brazil: Industrial activity drops at sharpest rate since January in August
Industrial output dropped 0.6% month on month in seasonally-adjusted terms in August (July: +0.6% mom). August’s figure marked the worst reading since January. August’s weakening was largely driven by a deterioration in intermediate goods output, as it recorded the weakest reading in eight months. In addition, consumer goods output fell, and non-durable consumer goods production contracted at a steeper pace than in the previous month. More positively, durable consumer goods production accelerated.
On an annual basis, industrial output rose 2.8% in August (July: -0.4% yoy), the best result since June 2021. Accordingly, the trend improved slightly, with the annual average variation of industrial production coming in at minus 2.6%, up from July’s minus 2.9%.