Coronavirus

Covid-19 wrecks Brazil’s machines and equipment industry

Covid-19 wrecks Brazil’s machines and equipment industry
Photo: Pedro Revillion/Palácio Piratini

The Brazilian association of machines and equipment industries reported a 27-percent drop in revenue in April, when compared to one year ago. Companies brought in BRL 7.7 billion, with sales falling dramatically due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, this industry sector has seen a 6.5-percent contraction in the first four months of the year against the same period of 2019.

While domestic sales plunged 28.5 percent, exports crashed 41.6 percent. However, as these transactions are done in U.S. Dollars, converting back to Brazilian Reais resulted in only a 24 percent revenue loss. These problems are expected to persist, as the backlog of requests has also dropped by 10.2 percent, “due to the lack of big investment projects and the paralyzation of many industries.”

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