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Industry was one of the main bases of growth for the Brazilian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the first semester of the year. The GDP increased by 3.4% when compared to the first six months last year.
This according to the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The industry's performance was 4.4% greater in the period.
The industrial sector that contributed the most to the result, according the economist of the National Accounts Department at the IBGE, Cláudia Dionísio, was mineral extraction, especially of coal and oil.
"Petrobras started operations in two new platforms," explains the economist. The Brazilian oil company had net revenues of US$ 26.4 billion, 22% more than in the same period in 2004. The mineral extraction industry as a whole grew 10.6% in the period.
The numbers released by the IBGE indicate that the better result, in the semester, happened in the second quarter of the year. From April to June, the country's GDP increased by 3.9%. The industry grew 5.5%.
"Brazilian economy restarted growing in the second quarter of the year," states the economist coordinator of the Economic Policy Unit of the National Confederation of Industries (CNI), Flávio Castelo Branco.
In the second quarter as well the highlight was the mineral extraction industry, whose performance was 17.5% greater than in the same months in 2004. This was the highest rate registered since the fourth quarter in 2000.
The industry also pulled up the sectors of trade and transportation, according the IBGE economist. The Gross Domestic Product for trade increased by 4% in the first semester and 3.8% in the second quarter.
The transportation sector had a performance 3.9% greater in the semester and 4% in the quarter. "If industry grows, the transportation (of goods) increases and the trade sector sells more," says Cláudia Dionísio. The trade sector includes retail and wholesale.
More Investments
According to the economist at the IBGE, the information from the research also show that investments are happening in the country. The information is based on the growth of civil construction, by 2.2% in the semester and 3.7% in the quarter.
Also the imports of goods and services increased by 12.5% in the semester, which indicates an increase in machinery and equipments purchases. Cláudia Dionísio affirms that the investments benefited from the effort for credit availability by the financial institutions like the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).
After releasing the IBGE study, the National Confederation of Industries disclosed a statement in which the entity's president, Armando Monteiro Neto, says the results are "positive and auspicious".
"The results authorize us to maintain the forecast that the GDP growth will be over 3% and the industry's performance may be close to 5% this year," he states.
The minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, said that the country's GDP should increase by more than 4% in 2005. In the accumulated value for the last twelve months, the GDP increased by 4.3%.
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