The Brazilian industry prices increased 2.37% in March compared to February (-0.16%), especially influenced by the increase in the prices of the mining and quarrying industry. During this month, the mining industry increased by 18.65%, the highest rise since February 2021, being responsible, alone, for 0.81 percentage points (p.p.) of the overall result of the national industry.

The data comes from the Producer Price Index (IPP) for Mining and Manufacturing Industries, released this Wednesday (29) by the IBGE. The survey measures the prices of products “at the factory gate,” without taxes and freight, and covers the broad economic categories.

In addition to the mining industries, other segments that saw notable price changes in March were other chemicals (5.03%); petroleum refining and biofuels (4.24%) and computer equipment, electronic and optical products (2.50%).

Murilo Alvim, the IPP manager, explains that the results of the March survey carry a significant impact from the foreign market, in a context of pressure on supply and demand for goods.

“This increase can be largely explained by the context of greater instability on the international scene, especially in the Middle East, whose conflicts began at the end of February, but which intensified during March and caused higher prices to be observed in 18 out of 24 sectors analyzed in the survey.”

With the March result, the IPP accumulated a 2.53% increase in the year, accelerating in relation to February (0.15%), the third consecutive month on the positive side. In the cumulative index in 12 months, industry prices register a drop of 1.54%. Despite still being on the negative side under this comparison basis, the change is the smallest in intensity since September 2025, when it had been -0.39%. In February, the cumulative IPP in 12 months was -4.39%.

The emphasis on the rise in the prices of the mining industries in March is justified under different bases of comparison. Both in the monthly indicator and in the cumulative index in the year, the IPP of mining industries was the one with the greatest change and the greatest influence on the general result. Moreover, the sector also stands out among the major changes and influences in the cumulative index in 12 months.

“This increase was mainly driven by higher prices for crude petroleum oil, as geopolitical tensions have impacted the global supply of the commodity, which is also hampered by navigation restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz,” analyzed the survey manager.

In addition to crude petroleum oil, another product with significant weight in the sector, “iron ore and its concentrates,” also impacted the monthly increase in the index, an increase that is also in line with the foreign market. Of the mining industry, only liquefied or gaseous natural gas saw a drop in prices in March.

  “Following the petroleum chain, other activities appear as highlights this month. One of them is oil refining and biofuels, which increased 4.24% in March and it is the biggest increase since September 2023. This result was influenced by the higher prices of diesel fuel and fuel oils. On the other hand, a lower demand for alcohol managed to hold back the sector's results a little,” commented Alvim.

Another sector that stood out for its advance in March was food, which registered an increase after ten consecutive negative results. The 1.90% growth in March was also the most significant since November 2024 (2.18%). The March results, according to the survey manager, were impacted by the prices of livestock production.

“This change was driven by dairy products, whose economic group had an increase of 9.66% in the month in a scenario of lower supply of fresh milk on the market, combined with a production cost that has remained at high levels. In addition to dairy products, it is worth mentioning the prices of meat and sugar.”

From the perspective of the broad economic categories, the monthly IPP in March recorded an increase in intermediate goods (3.75%) and consumer goods (0.95%), in addition to a drop in capital goods (-0.18%). The increase in consumer goods is explained by the 1.19% increase in semi-durable and non-durable consumer goods, while durable consumer goods registered a drop of 0.24% in the month.

The main influence among the broad economic categories was exerted by intermediate goods, which accounted for 2.02 p.p. out of the March IPP (2.37%). Completing the list are consumer goods, with an influence of 0.37 p.p., and capital goods, with -0.01 p.p. In the case of consumer goods, the influence observed in March is divided into -0.02 p.p., which was due to the change in the prices of durable consumer goods, and 0.38 p.p. associated with the change in semi and non-durable consumer goods.

Know more about the IPP

The IPP aims at measuring the average change of sale prices received by the domestic producers of goods and services, as well as their evolution over time, signaling the short-term inflationary trends in Brazil. It is a key indicator for the macroeconomic follow up and, consequently, a valuable analytical instrument for decision makers, either public or private.

The survey investigates, in a few more than 2,100 enterprises, the prices received by producers, free from tax, tariffs and freight, defined according to the most usual commercial practices. Nearly 6 thousand prices are collected monthly. The complete IPP tables are available on Sidra. The next release of the IPP, for April, will be on May 28.

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