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 The industries from the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina are planning on investing 1.49 billion reais (US$ 765.1 million) in 2007. The figure is higher than the amount invested last year, which was 1.26 billion reais (US$ 647 million), and in 2005, which was 1.2 billion reais (US$ 616.2 million). For 2008, they are planning 1 billion reais in investment (US$ 513.5 million).
The data are part of the survey 'Performance and Perspectives for the Santa Catarina Industry,' published by the Federation of Industries of the State of Santa Catarina (Fiesc) with support from the Regional Development Bank for the Extreme South (BRDE).
According to the industries in the state of Santa Catarina, the main purposes for the investment will be purchase of machinery and equipment, technological updates, product development, and increase in production capacity.
Although the data show an upward trend, this does not mean that the increase in investment will actually take place. Last year, only 26% of the companies that intended to invest made the scheduled expenses: 49% reduced the forecasted values, and 25% postponed or cancelled the fund allocations.
The sector that invested the most last year was that of foodstuffs, which spent 251 million reais (US$ 128.8 million) in Santa Catarina and another 184.8 million reais (US$ 94.9 million) in other Brazilian states.
Next came the electric material and communications industries, with investments of 161.8 million reais (US$ 83 million) in Santa Catarina, 4.9 million reais (US$ 2.5 million) in other Brazilian states, and 4.4 million reais (US$ 2.2 million) abroad. The information was supplied by the FIESC.
Minas Gerais
Minas Gerais industry produced 9.7% more in April in comparison to the same month last year. This information was disclosed by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The result obtained by industry in Minas, well above the Brazilian average, which was 6%, is the best result since June 2005, when the increase in production was 10.6%.
The accumulated result for the first quarter of the year is also expressive, with growth of 6.8%, over the Brazilian average of 4.3%. In comparison with April 2006, the mining industry rose 11.5%, powered by the production of iron ore, due to investment in expansion that is being made by mining companies.
Anba
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The headline of this article is optimistic and very promising. But the key sentence is "Although the data show an upward trend, this does not mean that the increase in investment will actually take place."