BRASILIA, June 6 (Xinhua) -- The production of vehicles in Brazil was 212,294 units in May, a year-on-year fall of 15.3 percent, as the industry was heavily affected by truckers' strike, industry association Anfavea announced Wednesday.
The National Association of Automotive Vehicle Manufacturers (Anfavea) said production had been badly hit, dropping by 20.2 percent compared with the number in April.
From May 21 to 31, thousands of truckers blockaded highways nationwide to protest the rising price of diesel, affecting the transportation of goods.
This left automotive factories lacking the spare parts they needed. From May 21, production began to wind down and stopped completely from May 24, according to Anfavea.
Production lines began to return to normal on May 31 when the truckers lifted blockades after reaching a deal with the government.
Another strike by metallurgical workers, beginning before the truckers' strike and lasting about a week, also affected the factory in Sao Bernardo do Campo.
However, Anfavea said that the downturn in May would not prevent the sector from achieving real growth across all of 2018.
Figures showed that from January to May in 2018, the sector produced 1,178,166 units, 12.1 percent more than the same period of 2017.
The automotive production sector has also seen continued job creation, with 616 new jobs added in May to reach a total of 5,372 new jobs in the past 12 months.
