The investment projects announced by companies in Brazil in the second half of last year, totalled US$ 54.161 billion, according to information from the Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade. The value refers to plans announced by companies, but it does not show what was really invested.
According to the Ministry, the volume represents the sum of 601 projects announced between July and December 2004, by private and state-owned open capital companies in all sectors of the economy, except for the areas of real estate and civil construction.
According to the report organized by the Ministry, the sector that most announced investment was the transformation industry, with 54.1% of the total, or US$ 29.3 billion, followed by the area of transport, storage and communications (16.4%, or US$ 8.9 billion); and then by the sector of production and distribution of electric energy, gas and water, with 13.8%, or US$ 7.5 billion.
The sub-sectors that most announced investment were those that “are close to the limit of productive capacity,” such as the basic metallurgy sector, which answered to 17.2% of the total value of projects, or US$ 9.3 billion announced by smelters Companhia Siderúrgica de Tubarão, Bv Steel Works and the Gerdau group, and the chemical products sector, with US$ 5.2 billion.
The infrastructure sector, which demands great volumes of funds, was also among those that announced the largest number of projects. The telecommunications sector, for example, answered to 12.6% of the total, or US$ 6.8 billion. Telephony companies Tim, Telemar and Claro announced projects that totalled US$ 5 billion.
In the sector of energy, Brazilian oil giant Petrobras alone, according to the Ministry, announced investment of US$ 4 billion, divided into the areas of chemical products, production and distribution of energy (petroleum and fuels) and plastics.
In the first half of 2004, total investments announced by companies in Brazil totalled US$ 56.031 billion. The study takes into consideration figures published in the press, information provided by the Ministry itself, by the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES), by the Manaus Free Zone Superintendence (Suframa), by the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI), by state-owned organizations and by class organizations.
Anba