The General Price Index – Internal Availability (IGP-DI), calculated by FGV’s Brazilian Institute of Economics (IBRE), rose 1.25% in February, higher than the 0.07% seen in the previous month. With this result, the index accrues a 1.32% high in the year and 7.73% in 12 months. In February 2018, the index had risen 0.15% and reached an accrued drop of 0.19% in 12 months.

The Broad Producer Price Index (IPA) rose 1.79% in February. In January, the rate was -0.19%. In the analysis by processing stages, the Final Goods group varied 1.77% in February, on average, after climbing 0.32% in January. The main reason behind such variation was the fresh foods subgroup, which shifted from 2.60% to 23.32%. The Finished Goods (ex) index, resulting from the exclusion of fresh foods and fuel for consumption, rose 0.29% in February, compared to 0.49% in December.

The Intermediate Goods group varied from -0.53% in January to 0.16% in February. The main reason for this change was the fuel and lubricants for production subgroup, which rose from -1.98% to 5.69%. The Intermediate Goods (ex) rate, not including the fuel and lubricants for production subgroup, dropped 0.74% in February, compared to a 0.29% drop in the previous month.

The Gross Raw Materials category rose 3.85% in February. The rate had fallen 0.38% in January. Some of the main drivers behind such increase in the group were iron ore (2.53% to 12.26%), soy (beans) (-5.21% to 0.35%), and fresh milk (-1.68% to 9.24%). In the opposite direction, some of the highlights were manioc (cassava) (6.29% to 1.77%), crushed stone (0.00% to -0.93%) and pork products (-1.48% to -2.22%).

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) varied 0.35% in February, compared to 0.57% in the previous month. Four out of eight expense classes that make up the index recorded decreasing variation rates. The main driver behind such decrease in the CPI rate was the Education, Reading and Recreation group (3.13% to -0.65%). One of the highlights in this expense category was formal courses, which varied from 5.79% to 0.00%.

On the other hand, the Communication (0.20% to 0.00%), Miscellaneous Expenses (0.30% to 0.10%) and Transport (0.02% to -0.01%) groups yielded lower rates. The main drivers in these expense classes were the following items: landline phone and internet packages (0.91% to 0.00%), notary office (3.33% to 0.23%) and urban bus fare (2.86% to 0.97%). On the other hand, the Food (0.73% to 0.94%), Health and Personal Care (0.27% to 0.50%), Clothing (-0.64% to -0.13%) and Housing (0.43% to 0.44%) groups recorded increasing variation rates. The greatest increases in these categories were the following items: herbs and vegetables (-0.17% to 5.93%), hygiene and personal care items (-0.26% to 0.54%), clothes (-0.83% to -0.10%) and household power bill (0.47% to 1.33%).

The core CPI recorded a rate of 0.35% in February, compared to 0.30% in the previous month. A total of 44 of the 85 items that make up the CPI were excluded from the core calculation. Out of this total, 27 showed rates below 0.09% (lower limit) and 17 recorded variations above 0.66% (upper limit). In January, the diffusion index, which measures the ratio of items with positive variation rates, was 58.58% – down 7.99 p.p. from 66.57% in January.

The Civil Construction Index (INCC) rose 0.09% in February, compared to 0.49% in January. The three components of the INCC recorded the following variations in the passage from January to February: Materials and Equipment (0.41% to 0.02%), Services (1.34% to 0.61%) and Manpower (0.40% to 0.04%).

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