Agribusiness production began to rebound again in March

After a sequence of eight negative year-on-year variations, which began in July 2021, the Brazilian Agroindustrial Production Index (PIMAgro), calculated by the Center for Agribusiness Studies of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV Agro), rose 1.8% in March compared to the same month last year.

Such an increase was driven by an advance of 3.8% in foods and beverages. On the other hand, the index for non-food products still fell, albeit slightly at 0.2%. Compared to February, PIMAgro rose 0.7%, the fifth consecutive increase in month-to-month comparisons.

FGV Agro highlights that, even with the recent positive results, the index does not indicate that the previous losses recovered and remains 1.1% below the level observed before the beginning of the pandemic in February 2020.

PIMAgro is based on data from the IBGE Monthly Industrial Survey (PIM-PF) and variations in the Central Bank’s Economic Activity Index (IBC-BR), the exchange rate, and the Manufacturing Industry Entrepreneur’s Confidence Index (ICI) from FGV.

The center also notes that, despite the recovery in March, the indicator closed the first quarter with a drop of 1.4% compared to 2021 and that the scenario remains complicated.

“The agro-industrial sector, like the rest of industry, continues to struggle to find raw materials and faces rising costs; inflation continues to erode the population’s purchasing power; the labor market remains sluggish, with a higher proportion of informal jobs and a drop in income; and credit remains expensive due to the high interest rates.”

The index’s advance among food and beverages (3.8% compared to March 2021) was influenced mainly by the 12% increase in beverages (20%). The increase observed in food items was 1.5%, pushed upwards by 2.7% in products of animal origin.

In the area of non-food products, the decline of biofuels (38.6%) and textiles (9%) contributed to the fall of 0.2%, but the advances in inputs (20.5%) and tobacco (17.9%) limited the fall.

Source: Valor Econômico

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