Producer prices in Brazil accelerated in March by an increase of 0.35%, with the chemical sector in the spotlight, reported the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) this Tuesday.
The result led the index accumulated in 12 months to a drop of 4.13%. In February, the Producer Price Index (IPP) had risen 0.14%, after three consecutive falls.
Among the 24 activities analyzed, IBGE pointed out that 17 had a positive change in March compared to the previous month. The main influence was exerted by the 2.06% increase in the chemical sector.
“What drove this increase were products derived from the oil chain. We are seeing an increase in the prices of a barrel of oil in recent months, with this there is pressure via the costs of increasing prices of derivatives”, explains Murilo Alvim, analyst at IPP.
“This is in conjunction with an increase in demand, especially from China, which is experiencing strong industrial activity, and due to logistics challenges in the foreign market. This affects products derived from naphtha and resins and elastomers, raw materials for the manufacture of plastic materials”, he added.
Among other activities, the biggest changes in March were recorded by clothing (2.65%), paper and cellulose (1.92%), and perfumery, soaps and cleaning products (-1.46%).
The food sector fell 0.38%, marking the third consecutive negative result.
“The food sector saw declines in every month of 2024. On the side of the industrial food producer in Brazil, we can talk about deflation of food products,” said Alvim.
The IPP measures the variation in product prices at the “factory gate”, that is, without taxes and freight, of 24 activities in the extractive and processing industries.
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