Conducted by FGV’s Brazilian Institute of Economics (IBRE), the Industry Survey’s preliminary results for July indicate a drop of 0.5 point in the Industry Confidence Index (ICI) compared to the final result from June, down to 99.6 points – the lowest level since January this year.

The lower confidence this month would be a result of worse expectations in the sector. After rising 3.4 points in June, the Expectations Index (IE) would fall 4.3 points in July, down to 100.7 points. The Current Situation Index (ISA) would rise 3.4 points in July, up to 98.5 points, after falling 5.5 points last month.

July’s preliminary results indicate a second consecutive drop in the Industry Installed Capacity Level (NUCI), falling 0.3 percentage point, down to 75.9%.

A total of 782 companies were surveyed between July 2 and 18, 2018 for this month’s preliminary results.

The final survey results will be published next Friday, July 27.