The National Confederation of Industry (CNI) reported Friday (May 16) that the import penetration coefficient has reached 22.5% in the first quarter this year. The finding is part of a study called “Coefficients of Trade Liberalization” (in Portuguese), which measures the relevance of exports to the manufacturing sector and the amount of imported goods that goes into national production as supplies. 

The figure is 0.4 percentage points up from the previous quarter, and is a peak in its time series, which began in 2007. Compared to the same period last year, the increase was 1.4 percentage points. 

Out of a total 23 manufacturing industry sectors surveyed, the highest increases in import penetration were recorded in automobiles, clothing, textiles, and metal products. Declines were reported only in pharmachemicals/pharmaceuticals and in other transport equipment (ships, trailers, airplanes, and other). 

The CNI explained the use of imports is not part of a corporate strategy; rather, it reflects how Brazilian industry is uncompetitive, losing out both in the domestic and the foreign markets because of its low productivity and high costs. 

The exports coefficient, which measures the weight of exports in industrial gross sales, stood at 19.8% in the first quarter, remaining virtually unchanged from the 19.7% reported in the previous quarter. In the extraction industry, the ratio decreased 1.4 percentage points from the last quarter of 2013, while remaining stable at 16% in the manufacturing industry.