INFLATION

Brazil’s inflation rate fell to a 12- month low in April, stoking expectations the central bank will continue to reduce interest rates to revive economic growth (Bloomberg).

BANKING

Brazilian bank Bradesco will focus its growth efforts on the domestic market, where it sees rising demand for banking services amid a rebounding economy, and plans no overseas bids (Reuters).

Itau Unibanco, Latin America’s largest bank by assets, posted a first-quarter net income of 2.01 billion reais ($943.2 million), down from 2.04 billion reais in the year-earlier period (Reuters).

BUSINESS

The current global economic crisis is hurting the aviation industry more than the downturn that followed the September 11 attacks of 2001, leaving a recovery of the commercial jet market unlikely before 2011 (Reuters).

Braskem, Latin America’s largest petrochemical company, posted a net profit of 10 million reais ($4.6 million) in the first quarter, down from a profit of 80 million reais a year earlier (Reuters).

MINING

Brazilian miner Vale declared force majeure on Friday on iron ore deliveries on the domestic market after floods shut a key train line, and said it may extend the measure to cover exports (Reuters).

Vale, the world’s largest iron ore miner, said it is prepared to adopt more flexible pricing methods for selling ore, which could issue in a new era for the company that is known for exclusively selling at annual benchmark prices (Reuters).

Vale posted a first-quarter net profit of $1.36 billion, down 33 percent from $2.02 billion a year ago, as the global economic crisis cut iron ore demand and prices (Reuters).

Brazilian miner MMX said it would resume operations at the Corumba iron ore mine which were halted in December 2008 to slow output during the global financial crisis (Reuters).

Brazil may hold the world’s third- largest potash reserves, following discoveries in the northern and eastern parts of the country (Bloomberg).

FARMING

Brazil’s farm sector is bouncing back from the global financial crisis faster than other sectors but environmental regulations and poor infrastructure restrict medium-term growth (Reuters).

OIL

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras said Thursday it signed an agreement with Japanese trading company Mitsui & Co to study the viability of an oil refinery in Ceara state (Reuters).

Petrobras hopes to raise a loan from the China Development Bank, its chief executive said on Tuesday, to guarantee financing in 2010-2011 for an aggressive investment plan (Reuters).

Transocean, the world’s largest offshore driller, may build rigs in Brazil as energy producers including state-controlled Petroleo Brasiliero SA seek to tap the Western Hemisphere’s largest discoveries in three decades (Bloomberg).

AIR TRAVEL

TAM Linhas Aereas, Brazil’s leading airline, is “well positioned” to withstand the current economic downturn and the burden of costly fuel hedge contracts that have weighed on its balance sheet (Reuters).

CONSTRUCTION & REAL ESTATE

Brazil’s largest construction group, Odebrecht, expects revenue to rise 5 percent in 2009 as major economies raise public spending on infrastructure, Chief Executive Officer Marcelo Bahia Odebrecht said (Reuters).

Gafisa, Brazil’s second-largest residential builder, expects a good year for the country’s real estate developers, particularly those with a focus on low-income housing (Reuters).

RATINGS

Latin America has withstood economic shocks so well during the global crisis that Brazil, Colombia and Peru could see their credit ratings raised to investment grade within 12 months (Reuters).

TELECOMS

Claro, Brazil’s second-largest wireless operator, will grab more new users than its rivals again this year thanks to a more flexible approach toward customers, Chief Executive Joao Cox said to Reuters.

Vivo, Brazil’s largest mobile-phone carrier, maintained its position as the most profitable in the industry after net income rose 38 percent in first-quarter, adding 11 million subscibers (Bloomberg).

RIO2016

Rio’s security arrangements had impressed inspectors assessing the crime-ridden city for its 2016 Olympics bid (Reuters).

POWER

Brazil sold the rights to build and operate 19 electricity-transmission lines and nine electricity substations, part of efforts to expand the country’s grid as power demand grows and new generation plants are built (Bloomberg).