Brazilian electrical and electronics markets saw revenues drop by 12 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008. Waylaid by the international financial crisis that began in September 2008, the progress that this market sector was experiencing started to decline.
These statistics from the Brazilian Electrical and Electronics Industry Association (or Abinee, for Associação Brasileira da Indústria Elétrica e Eletrônica, www.abinee.org.br) were published in early June, during the association’s exhibition in São Paulo. According to the Abinee study, 100 percent of companies from the Brazilian industrial automation segment declared that their sales and orders were below expectations in the 2009 first quarter. During the quarter, industrial automation revenues dropped by 5 percent, year over year, suppliers reported.
“It is necessary to point out concerns about new orders of manufacturing products. Much revenue came from filling orders before the crisis put a halt to new orders. New orders are slow and most orders in hand are being filled. We noticed that all of the researched companies from the Industrial Automation and Industrial Equipments areas reported results below expectations,” says Nelson Ninin, Abinee Industrial Automation area director.
However, Ninin adds, Abinee is still projecting an increase of 1 percent in electrical and electronics revenues overall during 2009 over 2008, based on an analysis of the entire Brazilian economy.
Ninin is Yokogawa South America president and ISA International president-elect. Even though he apprehensive about the current decline in new orders, Ninin is optimistic about the long-term future for Brazilian capital goods manufacturing companies, including Industrial Automation and Industrial Equipment suppliers. “We expect that, with the activity rebounding in several sections of the economy, new orders will appear in larger levels again,” Ninin says.
About the author
Sílvia Pereira, silviapereira@uol.com.br, is a freelance journalist based in Brazil.
Brazilian Electrical and Electronics Industry Association
www.abinee.org.br
