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service sector is the largest component of GDP at 50%, followed by the industrial sector at 44%. Agriculture represents 5% of GDP (2004). Espírito Santo's exports consisted mainly of manufacturing of iron and steel 35.8%, iron ore 25.2%, paper 17.6%, coffee 7.7%, and
granite 6.5% (as of 2002). Espírito Santo is Brazil's highest steel-producing state. The main crops grown are coffee, sugarcane, and fruits (mostly coconuts, bananas and
papayas). The livestock industry is represented primarily by cattle raised for milk and beef. Industry consists mainly of canning, forestry, textiles, and iron and steel works. The latter two are concentrated around
Cariacica and the
Vale do Rio Doce ironworks. Vitória is an important port for the exporting of iron and steel; the state is among the biggest steel-producing regions the world. In
São Mateus, petroleum reserves have been found on the continental shelf, and are being commercially exploited. In agricultural production, coffee, sugarcane, papaya, banana, and coconut stand out. It also produces
cassava, oranges, and beans. In 2020, Espírito Santo was the largest producer of
Coffea canephora in Brazil, with a 66.3% share of the total (564.5 thousand tons, or 9.4 million 60 kg bags). In 2017, Minas accounted for 54.3% of the total national coffee production (first place), Espírito Santo accounted for 19.7% (second place) and São Paulo, 9.8% (third place). Brazil is the world's biggest productor of sugarcane, with 672 million tons/year. In 2020, Espírito Santo harvested almost 3 million tons. Espírito Santo was the seventh-largest national producer of bananas in 2018, with 408 thousand tons. Brazil was already the second-largest producer of the fruit in the world, currently in third place, losing only to India and
Ecuador, and produced 6.7 million tons in the same year. Espírito Santo was the largest Brazilian producer of papaya in 2018, with 354 thousand tons. Brazil produced 1.06 million tons in the same year. The state was the fifth-largest producer of coconuts in Brazil in 2009, with 157 million fruits. In 2018, the state also produced cassava, in a small amount compared to Brazilian production: 115,000 tons, with the country producing 17 million tons. Espírito Santo had an orange production of around 18,000 tons in 2018, the country's 14th-largest producer state. In the north of the state, beef cattle are raised and fattened, and the meat industry was developed; the meat is mainly shipped to Rio de Janeiro, in addition to supplying the region of Vitória. In the south, dairy farming is practiced, and milk is sold, through cooperatives, in the markets of Rio de Janeiro and Vitória. More recently developed are silviculture and fruit-growing, with use for canned fruit and cellulose production. The total number of chickens in the state is about 9.2 million birds, and that of cattle exceeds 1.8 million head. Important reserves of granite are known and used, and extraction of natural gas and oil is increasing. Sands and marbles are also important products of Espírito Santo
extractivism. The state's subsoil is rich in minerals, including oil, with considerable reserves of limestone, marble, manganese, ilmenite, bauxite, zirconium, monazites, and rare earths, although not all are being explored. In mineral extraction, exploration of reserves of marbles, limestone, and dolomite is happening in the Cachoeiro de Itapemirim area. Although relatively small, the industrial park in Espírito Santo is home to chemical, metallurgical, food, and paper and cellulose industries. Chocolates in Vila Velha About
industry, Espírito Santo in 2017 had an industrial GDP of R$21.3 billion, equivalent to 1.8% of the national industry. It employed 168,357 workers in the industry. The main industrial sectors are: extraction of oil and natural gas (23.0%), construction (20.5%), industrial services of public utility, such as electricity and water (12.3%), metallurgy (7.5%), and pulp and paper (6.6%). These sectors concentrate 69.9% of the state's industry. In 2012, the export basket of Espírito Santo was based on iron ore (52.49%), crude oil (10.87%), chemical pulp made of soda or sulphate wood (10.01%), stone or construction (5.58%), and coffee (4.42%). Espírito Santo exports iron produced in Minas Gerais. In the mineral extractive industry, in 2019, Rio de Janeiro was the largest producer of oil and natural gas in Brazil, with 71% of the total volume produced. São Paulo comes in second place, with an 11.5% share of total production. Espírito Santo was the third-largest producer state, with 9.4%. In recent years, Espírito Santo has stood out in the production of oil and natural gas. With several discoveries made, mainly by Petrobras, the state left the fifth position in the Brazilian ranking of reserves, in 2002, to become one of the largest oil province in the country, with total reserves of 2.5 billion barrels. About 140 thousand barrels a day are produced. Oil fields are located both on land and at sea, in shallow, deep, and ultra-deep waters, containing light and heavy oil and unassociated gas. In the urban centers of the capital and Cachoeiro de Itapemirim, practically all the main units of the Espírito Santo transformation industry are concentrated. The steel industries are located in the capital Vitória: Companhia Ferro e Aço de Vitória, iron ore pelletizing plant of Companhia Vale do Rio Doce; lumber, textiles, crockery, instant coffee, chocolates and refrigerators. In the Itapemirim river valley, cement, sugar and alcohol, and canned fruit industries are developed. The 10 largest industrial companies in Espírito Santo are:
Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (mining),
ArcelorMittal Tubarão (steel mill), Samarco Mineração (mining),
Aracruz Celulose, Fertilizers Heringer,
ArcelorMittal Sul Fluminense (steel mill), Escelsa (electricity distribution company),
Garoto (the largest chocolate factory in Latin America and the most important industrial food company of the state) and Sol Coqueria. Espírito Santo is a major steel producer, due to two steel mills present in its territory: ArcelorMittal Tubarão (formerly
Companhia Siderúrgica de Tubarão) in the capital Vitória, which in 2018 produced 7 million tons of crude steel of the 35.4 million produced in the country; and ArcelorMittal Sul Fluminense (formerly
Votorantim Siderurgia), also in the capital, which produced 1 million tons of crude steel in the same year. In the paper and cellulose sector, Brazilian pulp production was 19.691 million tons in 2019. The country exported US$7.48 billion in pulp this year, $3.25 billion only to China. Brazilian forest-based industry exports totaled $9.7 billion ($7.48 billion in cellulose, $2 billion in paper, and $265 million in wood panels). Paper production was 10.535 million tons in 2019. The country exported 2.163 million tons. In 2016, the paper and cellulose industry in the south of the country represented 33% of the national total. Espírito Santo stands out in this sector. In 2018, $920 million were traded in the sale of cellulose to the foreign market, the third-strongest Espírito Santo product in the export balance. In 2016, the top five states producing logs for paper and cellulose (mainly
eucalyptus) were: Paraná (15.9 million m3),
São Paulo (14.7 million m3), Bahia (13.6 million m3), Mato Grosso do Sul (9.9 million m3), and
Minas Gerais (7.8 million m3). Together, they correspond to 72.7% of the national production of 85.1 million m3. Espírito Santo, 9th place, had a production of 4.1 million m3. São Mateus, north of Espírito Santo, was the best-city in the Southeast, as the sixth-largest producer of roundwood for paper and cellulose in the country. The 10 largest producing municipalities had 22.9% of the country's production. They were the cities of Telêmaco Borba (PR), Três Lagoas (MS), Caravelas (BA), Mucuri (BA), Ortigueira (PR), São Mateus (ES), Dom Eliseu (PR), Nova Viçosa (BA), Water Clara (MS), and Ribas do Rio Pardo (MS). The tertiary sector is underdeveloped throughout the state, but commercial activity acquires a certain importance with iron ore exports from Minas Gerais, through the Vitória a Minas Railway, and is shipped at the ports of Atalaia and Ponta do Tubarão. The connection of Cachoeiro de Itapemirim to the city of Rio de Janeiro, though, by paved highway, allowed the incorporation of the region into the Rio de Janeiro milk basin and facilitated the export of agricultural products, such as coffee, corn, manioc, rice, and vegetables. The state's tourist activity is concentrated on the coast, where beaches, such as Itaúnas and Guarapari, are popular. The peak of Bandeira, the third-highest in the country, is another tourist destination. Lately, a new type of tourism has gained prominence: gastronomic, in which typical
capixaba cuisine, heir to different cultures, is appreciated. The road system is organized from the BR-101, which crosses Espírito Santo from north to south, bordering the coast. The state has 30,100 km of roads, but only 10% are paved.
Tourism Tourism plays an ever-increasing role in the state's economy and is a leading destination in Brazilian
domestic tourism, although international tourism is present, though rarer. Tourist destinations include coastal areas such as Guarapari,
Jacaraípe, and
Manguinhos, and mountain retreats such as Domingos Martins. Guarapari is also a local tourist destination, known for its black sand beaches. Coastal cuisine is an attraction, with
moqueca capixaba and other local seafood dishes among traditional offerings. Inland, there are many natural attractions, such as the national parks of
Pedra Azul and
Caparaó.
Transportation Port 's port entrance under the
Third Bridge (the second-tallest bridge in Brazil), with Ilha do Boi and Camburi Beach in the background The port of Vitória is the most difficult to access among Brazilian ports. The bay on which it is located is extremely narrow with rocks, reefs and mountains, making it challenging for freighters and maritime cruisers to reach the
docks. This narrow approach also results in ships passing closely to population centers. In Vitória, ships sail in close proximity to cars and pedestrians. The location of the port in the city center also results in scheduling complications with limitations resulting from traffic constraints. Currently, the main use of the port is for ship and oil-platform repairs as well as international shipping.
Airports Eurico de Aguiar Salles Airport, which serves Vitória, is located on just over . Since construction of its first section, finished in 1946, the airport has undergone several expansions and modernizations, but current demand has surpassed its capacity of 560,000 passengers a year. The passenger terminal has a constructed area of nearly , a check-in concourse, 25 check-in counters and boarding and arrival lounges. The recent construction of new aircraft parking boxes on the
aprons has increased the airport's operational efficiency. In 2003, more than 1.2 million passengers used the airport, and in 2004 this rose to some 1.25 million. Vitória is one of the 32 airports in the
Infraero network that has a cargo terminal. In May 1999, the first direct international freight connection to the United States began operating in Vitória, facilitating American imports to the state of Espírito Santo. As of 2018, there are five such flights per week. A new runway and terminal were due at the end of 2007, but several budget inconsistencies were found and construction was halted.
Highways serving Espírito Santo •
BR-101 •
BR-259 •
BR-262 •
BR-482 ==Statistics==