Renovation of the machine park stimulates high projected 4.5% for the sector

The domestic demand has pulled the performance of the machinery and equipment industry, whose net revenues in the first quarter advanced 6%. For 2019, the sector predicts expansion of 4.5%. "The domestic market is making upgrades in the park, the equipment is being replaced. Exports pull the recipe down, but the exchange has a positive effect on revenues, "said the competitiveness, economics and Statistics manager of the Brazilian Association of Machinery and equipment industry (ABIMAQ), Maria Cristina Zanella, in Event this Tuesday (07). In the first quarter, exports recorded a decline of 11.7%. "The U.S. has become Brazil's leading buyer, much as a result of the crisis in Argentina," noted the entity's economist, Maurício Medeiros. In March, the export of the sector recorded the first positive result of the year, both in relation to the previous month (+ 27.2%), and the same period of the previous year (+ 0.6%). With this, the fall of the quarter was mitigated. In addition to the recession of the Argentine economy, a drop in sales was also recorded for other countries in South America and China. The level of utilization of the installed capacity was 0.4% above the cumulative result of the first quarter of 2018. Despite the improvement, the machinery and equipment industry continues to work with a high rate of idleness – 23.8%. The order portfolio showed an improvement of 15.6% in the accumulated year. Transitional measures The president of Abimaq, João Carlos Marchesan, stated that, in recent meetings with the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, reaffirmed the support of the sector to the reform of the welfare, but stressed the need for transitional measures to heat the economy. "We argue that the government unlocks investments to start delivering economic growth in the short term." He believes that infrastructure can be the key to generating employment and income in the country. "The state must be an investment inducer. Growth will not occur by consumption, because most families are indebtedness and unemployment is still high, "says the leader.