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With
a GDP of more than US$ 70 Billion, Minas Gerais leads head to head
with Rio de Janeiro for the second position in the
economic ranking of Brazilian states.
To increase its relative share of the state GDP, the
Minas industry has been changing its profile
considerably. Its four major branches - metallurgy,
food, non-metal minerals and textile - have reduced
their participation in the overall industrial output. On
the other hand, new enterprises have been contributing
so that other segments, hitherto modestly represented,
now play a major role in the transformation industry. A
typical example is that of transport-and automotive
products,
whose share rose from 1% to 17.9% between 1970 and 1997.
Diversification is likewise seen in the representation
of industries such as metallurgy, whose share declined
from 31% to 19% despite a strong metallurgical expansion
between 1970 and 1997. At that time, other segments
contributed strongly to the Minas transformation
industry, the following among them:
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Paper
and Cardboard, rising from 0.9% to 3.1%
-
Consumer
Products, from 1.8% to 14.3%
-
Engineering,
from 5.9% to 8.9%
The
service industry basically meets the demand of the
productive sector. Trade and utility services (gas,
water), community and personal services are responsible
for roughly 30% of the Minas GDP. Other outstanding
segments are transportation, storage & logistics, communication,
electricity and financial services.
The
Capital
Belo Horizonte, the first modern Brazilian city to
spring from an architect's drawing board, was especially
designed for its role as the capital of the State of
Minas Gerais. Its wide, landscaped avenues and carefully
planned residential suburbs are growing rapidly.
Belo Horizonte is the distribution and processing center
of a rich industrial, agricultural and mining region and
the nucleus of the state's industrial complex. Local
corporations manufacture steel, steel products,
automobiles, and textiles. Gold, manganese, and gem
stones of the surrounding region are processed in the
city.
Belo Horizonte is also a leading cultural center, with
three universities, various museums, numerous libraries,
and sports stadiums. Because of its altitude (850m) the
climate is refreshing and pleasant. It has a population
of about 2.5 million inhabitants, and covers an area of
333 sq. km.
Renewable
Resources
The state of Minas Gerais holds Brazil’s largest
reforested area, two million hectares of homogeneous
forests, equivalent to 30% of the country’s total. If
eucalyptus alone is taken into account, the state’s
participation reaches as much as 50%.
Reforesting is a significantly important economic
activity in Minas, whether as a source of energy or as
raw material for several industries. Much of what is
planted is manufactured into charcoal to be used in steel making,
although other segments also make use of this same
energy source.
The homogeneous forests have also aided in the
development of other segments, such as cellulose,
agglomerate wood, methanol via wood acid hydrolysis,
pinus resins for the production of tar and turpentine,
and the extraction of essential oils.
Non-renewable
Resources
Minas Gerais has one of the largest mineral reserves in
Brazil, the deposits in the state covering about 50
products from the metal, non-metal, gems and diamond
industries.
The value of the state’s mineral output represents
approximately 33% of the Brazilian total reserves for
coal, natural gas and petroleum.
Bauxite reserves in the Minas soil are estimated at 429
million tons, the Poços de Caldas deposits alone, in
the Southern part of the state, holding 58 million tons,
while the remaining balance is found in the Southeastern
Minas cities of Miraí, Muriaé, Descoberto, Itamarati
de Minas, Pedra Dourada, Cataguases, Carangola, São João
Nepomuceno, Guiricema, Leopoldina, Guidoval, Dores do
Turvo, Chácara, Espera Feliz, Faria Lemos, Miradouro
and Silveirânia.
Limestone ores have been found in 55 Minas
municipalities from different regions of the state, a
total of about 14 billion tons or 17% of Brazil’s
total. The largest reserves in the state are found in
the Central Minas cities of Matozinhos, Pedro Leopoldo,
Prudente de Morais, Sete Lagoas, Vespasiano, in the
cities of Arcos and Pains, in the Upper São Francisco
River part of the state and in the Northern Minas cities
of Manga and Montes Claros.
Brazil’s lead reserves amount to roughly 20 million
tons, 89% of which located in the Northwestern Minas
municipality of Paracatu. The state’s iron ore
reserves are approximately 34 billion tons, average
content of 60%, located in the so-called Iron Quadrant
and representing 65% of Brazil’s overall iron ore
reserves.
Natural phosphate fertilizers are mostly found in the
Upper Paranaíba locations of Araxá, Patos de Minas,
Patrocínio and Tapira, their reserves reaching two
billion tons, equal to 68% of the country’s total
reserves.
Water
Resources
Minas Gerais’ water potential is so large that many
label the state as Brazil’s water reservoir. About
4,586 sq.km. of the approximately 55,457 sq.km of water
in Brazil are in Minas soil, meaning 8.3% of the rivers
as well as natural and man-made lakes. Sixteen river
basins in the state discharge 6,290 cubic meters per
second and two of these basins (São Francisco and Paraná)
bathe nearly 67% of the state territory, networked with
over ten thousand water courses.
It is important to highlight that the Paraná river
basin, formed in Minas Gerais by the Grande and Paranaíba
rivers, is the world’s second largest basin in water
volume. The lakes formed by several sizable Power
Utility dams, among them Três Marias, Nova Ponte and São
Simão, also offer countless economic and touristic
opportunities.
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