Brazil Industrial Production Rose for 7th Month in November

By Jeffrey T. Lewis

SÃO PAULO--Brazil's industrial production rose for the seventh consecutive month in November, boosted by output of motor vehicles and clothing.

Production rose a seasonally adjusted 1.2% in November and increased 2.8% from the same month a year earlier, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, or IBGE, said Friday. In October, the IGBE reported that production rose 1.1% in the month and grew 0.3% from a year earlier.

The rise in car production is probably partly due to the country's record-low interest rates and to the fact that many Brazilians canceled vacations and delayed other purchasing plans, leaving them with more money than normal and allowing them to buy a new vehicle, according to Jason Vieira, chief economist at Infinity Asset Management.

"When you don't spend on travel or on imported goods because the weak real has made them more expensive, you could end up buying a new car instead," he said.

The increase in output in the month of November left production up 40.7% in the seven months since the end of strict social-distancing measures amid the coronavirus pandemic, more than erasing the drop of 27.1% in March and April, the IBGE said. But production in the year through November was still 5.5% less compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the agency.

Auto production increased 11.1%, while output of clothing and accessories increased 11.3% and production of machinery and equipment rose 4.1%, the IBGE said.

Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-08-21 0746ET