Atlantico Weekly

Archive for the ‘Brazil’ Category

Brazil news update, January 3rd

In Airports, Banking, Biofuels, Brazil, Economy, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Ports, Real estate on January 3, 2010 at 3:43 pm

ECONOMY

Brazil’s government will turn its focus to investment and away from stimulus measures, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, as the country’s economy makes a robust exit from recession (Reuters).

Brazil’s state development bank BNDES will focus its 2010 lending on energy projects and infrastructure to support continued economic growth, bank president Luciano Coutinho said (Reuters).

Brazil’s tax collection may rise 11 percent next year, allowing the government to boost spending while still meeting its fiscal targets (Bloomberg)

RIO

‘The Olympic Effect’ may already be well underway in Rio’s real estate market with prices expected to double in many of the city’s neighborhoods by 2016, but values in one of the most fashionable parts of the city will receive another significant boost later on this month (Rio Times).

BUSINESS

American agribusiness company Bunge is more than doubling its sugar cane milling capacity in Brazil, by acquiring sugar and ethanol producer Moema for US$452 million in stock (Rio Times).

Brazilian lender Itau Unibanco is considering buying stakes in one of the United Kingdom banks rescued by the government during the height of the global credit crisis of 2008, the U.K. Sunday Times reported (Reuters).

Brazilian mining company Vale expects iron ore production in 2010 to reach about 300 million tonnes, Chief Executive Roger Agnelli said (Reuters).

Brazil’s state-controlled energy firm Petrobras bought a 40.4 percent stake in a mill that produces ethanol biofuel from sugar cane, the company said in a filing with the local securities market regulator (Reuters).

Goldman Sachs plans to start a private pension fund in Brazil in the first quarter of 2010. New York-based Goldman is negotiating a partnership with an insurance company to distribute the fund (Bloomberg).

PORTS & AIRPORTS

LLX Logistica, the Brazilian logistics firm controlled by billionaire Eike Batista, said it obtained a loan of 408 million reais ($234 million) for its Sudeste Port from state development bank BNDES (Reuters).

Brazil’s government will raise investments in airports to prepare for the 2014 World Cup, Budget Minister Paulo Bernardo said. Brazil may have 10 percent more passengers during this period, Bernardo said in an interview to government radio Radiobras (Bloomberg).

OIL

Brazilian oil and gas start-up company OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes said it had found signs of more hydrocarbons in well 1-OGX-3-RJS, off Rio de Janeiro’s coast in the southern part of the Campos basin (Reuters).

ENERGY

Demand for electricity in Brazil will probably soar next year as factories ramp up output and household income continues to rise, a government agency said (Reuters).

South Africa news update, December 20th

In Brazil, Economy, South Africa on December 20, 2009 at 8:50 pm

ECONOMY

In light of South Africa’s position as the largest and most important economy in Africa, it is imperative that South Africa aligns itself with the growth potential of the BRIC nation. Can it become BRICS? (TradeInvest).

The automotive industry in South Africa was hit very hard by the financial crisis over the past year. With vehicles sales down and with many major automotive companies experiencing major financial difficulties, it has been an extremely testing year (TradeInvest).

With 2010 around the corner and most South Africans reflecting on a year that has seen an economic recession that spared very few, what does the New Year hold in store (TradeInvest)?

The South Atlantic in 2010

In Agriculture, Angola, Banking, Brazil, Cape Verde, Economy, Elections, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, Real estate, Security, South Africa, Surinam, Tourism on December 20, 2009 at 7:30 pm

Season’s greetings to all readers of Atlantico Weekly!

Atlantico Weekly is proud to present a short forecast for Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola, South Africa and Surinam in 2010.

Read The South Atlantic in 2010

Brazil news update, December 20th

In Agriculture, Argentina, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, Polls, Ports, Security, Tourism on December 20, 2009 at 7:28 pm

OIL & GAS

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras agreed to pay tens of millions of dollars more per year for imported Bolivian natural gas after a price dispute that has dragged on for years (Reuters).

Brazilian increases in oil production, along with Russia, is threatening the OPEC’s (Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries) control over oil prices. The current view of petroleum reserves may be deceptive as production, and most of all exportation, seem to be the determinant variable of the oil market equation (Rio Times).

Petrobras will get a 2.6 billion-real ($1.46 billion) loan from Brazil’s development bank, known as BNDES, to help finance construction of the Suape petrochemical complex (Bloomberg).

BUSINESS

Brazil’s CSN offered to buy Portuguese cement producer Cimpor for 3.86 billion euros ($5.6 billion) as the steelmaker slowly diversifies from its core business outside its home base (Reuters).

Brazilian meat processor Marfrig Alimentos received European Union regulatory approval for its takeover of local poultry export company Seara in a deal worth about $900 million (Reuters).

Fiat’s commercial vehicles unit Iveco has won a $3.37 billion contract to supply 2,044 armoured personnel carriers to the Brazilian army, Iveco said (Reuters). The vehicles will be produced in Brazil.

Junior miner MMX, owned by Brazilian magnate Eike Batista, will invest up to $1.2 billion to more than triple iron ore production capacity by 2015, the company’s president said (Reuters).

POLITICS

Brazil’s central bank chief, Henrique Meirelles, said he was not interested in running for the vice-presidency in next October’s election and had not decided whether to step down in April (Reuters).

The governor of Brazil’s central Minas Gerais state said he would no longer seek to become the presidential candidate for the opposition PSDB party in next October’s election (Reuters).

Brazil’s president will propose a truth commission this month to investigate torture during the country’s 1964-85 military dictatorship. The move by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva could mark a rare step by Brazil toward tackling the thorny question of dictatorship-era abuses (Reuters).

FINANCE

As Brazil emerges stronger than many other countries from the deepest global recession in decades, the time may have come for the largest private equity firms to plant roots in Latin America’s biggest economy (Reuters).

Banco do Brasil, Latin America’s largest bank by assets, is in talks to buy a stake in Argentina’s Banco Patagonia in what would be the state-run bank’s biggest international foray (Reuters).

SECURITY

One minute Victor Javier was rapt in a carefree game of beach soccer; the next he was a hapless victim of Rio de Janeiro’s “shock of order” crackdown. Rio state this month hired former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who takes credit for cleaning up the Big Apple, to help advise it on the Brazilian city’s crime problems (Reuters).

ECONOMY

After months of bullish forecasts from analysts in Brazil and around the world, the economic recovery has proven to have progressed at a significantly slower rate than has been anticipated over the last financial quarter (Rio Times).

The Brazilian government has announced that the bidding process for the construction and operation of a high-speed rail line that will link Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Campinas is to begin (Rio Times).

Chile and Brazil form part of 10- country group called ‘advanced emerging markets,’ Barclays Plc said. Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, Israel, China, South Africa, Poland and the Czech Republic are also part of the group, Barclays analysts including Eduardo Levy-Yeyati wrote in a report (Bloomberg).

Brazil news update, December 14th

In Agriculture, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, Telecom, Travel on December 14, 2009 at 7:05 pm

ECONOMY

At present, Brazil is the fifth-largest country in the world and has the fifth-largest population as well. But in 17 years’ time, it will also be the fifth-largest economy in the world, says its finance minister, Guido Mantega. Read the full article at the BBC.

Brazil’s government said it will lend an additional $80 billion reais ($45.3 billion) to the national development bank over the next two years to boost investment and keep the economy’s strong recovery on track (Reuters).

Brazil’s economy created a record number of jobs in November, in the latest sign the country’s labor market has fully recovered from this year’s recession, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said (Reuters).

BUSINESS

Brazil’s JBS SA, the world’s largest beef processor, said it plans to raise the equivalent of $2 billion in a bond offering, part of a plan to fund its U.S. unit after the takeover of Pilgrim’s Pride Corp (Reuters).

China’s Lenovo, the world’s fourth-largest seller of personal computers, is “open” to buy rivals in Brazil, where it wants to triple market share by 2014, if it strikes the right acquisition price, the company’s top two officials said (Reuters).

Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s third largest aircraft maker, has signed an agreement with CDB Leasing Co worth $2.2 billion over three years to help finance the sale of regional jets in Asia (Reuters).

Brazil’s Embraer, the world’s third-largest aircraft maker, will likely sell a record $500 million worth of planes in Brazil this year, helping offset a tumble in global demand amid the worst civil aviation market in years (Reuters).

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer will be invited to join a tender to supply narrow-bodied planes to United Airlines, the head of United’s parent company UAL Corp said (Reuters).

France’s Renault SA plans to invest about 1 billion reais ($571 million) in Brazil over the next three years, the company’s chief for the Mercosur trade bloc said (Reuters).

MINING

Iron ore prices will likely rise in 2010, underpinned by growing demand from China, the chief executive of Brazilian mining giant Vale said, without offering estimates of how much prices could rise (Reuters).

AMAZON

The $7.7 billion Santo Antonio dam on the Madeira river is part of Brazil’s largest concerted development plan for the Amazon since the country’s military government cut highways through the rain forest to settle the vast region during its two-decade reign starting in 1964. Read the full report at Reuters.

Brazil took a step forward in protecting the Amazon rainforest, starting satellite surveillance of the cattle ranches that are among the chief culprits in the forest’s destruction (Reuters).

AGRICULTURE

Brazilian authorities have approved the use of a new genetically-modified soy seed which was developed jointly by BASF and state agricultural researchers in the world’s No. 2 soy exporter (Reuters).

Sugar output in Brazil, the world’s largest producer, will rise to a record after declining supplies from India boosted demand for sweetener from the South American country, the government said (Bloomberg).

FINANCE

BTG Pactual, the securities firm led by Andre Esteves, is set to launch a private equity-backed Brazilian infrastructure fund, to take advantage of massive road, port and dam projects (Reuters).

OIL

Brazil’s lower house of Congress has approved the second of four bills designed to overhaul the country’s oil legislation and give the government greater control over vast new offshore reserves (Reuters).

Brazil’s Petrobras expects to raise more than $10 billion in a sale of shares it is planning as part of an ambitious expansion effort, the company’s Chief Executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli said (Reuters).

Brazil’s oil giant Petrobras said tests confirmed that Iara oil field, off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, contains a potential of 3 billion to 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Reuters).

TELECOM

Spain’s Telefonica plans to spend more than 2 billion reais ($1.14 billion) in Brazil next year, compared with expected capital expenditures of 2.4 billion reais earmarked for 2009, the chief executive of its Brazilian unit Antonio Carlos Valente said (Reuters).

Cape Verde news update, December 14th

In Brazil, Cape Verde, Energy, Investments on December 14, 2009 at 6:19 pm

POLITICS

Cape Verde is being pointed to as an example to be followed in relations between Africa and the People’s Republic of China. A recent study states that “Cape Verde and some other [countries] have shown that with an honest and responsible approach, Sino-African ties can be highly beneficial to both sides.” Read the full story in A Semana.

The International Monetary Fund presented its seventh report on Cape Verde, praising the “prudent management” policies of the Cape Verdean government, which have allowed the country to weather the international financial crisis. The institute also mentioned the possibility of a gradual reduction in interest rates in the future (A Semana).

ENERGY

A company from the northeastern Brazilian state of Ceará, Esbra (short for “Energia Solar Brasileira,” or Brazilian Solar Energy), hopes to bring photovoltaic energy to Cape Verde. The project is still in an embryonic phase, as the factory will only begin to be built in February of 2010 and go into operation in August of the same year. The main target market is Latin America, but company owner Nelson Estevan Seidl has already mentioned his desire to bring the alternative energy to Cape Verde (A Semana).

INVESTMENT

Cape Verde is expected to be one of the countries encompassed by a € 750,000 investment program from Portugal’s Azores islands in transnational projects. Cape Verde is expected to benefit from the European Union Ultra-peripheral Region Neighborhood Program, which encompasses the Economic Community of West African States, and is aimed at investing in projects in the area of innovation, investigation, sustainable development and risk prevention (A Semana).

Brazilian company Universo Pescados, based in the state of Ceará and specializing in the production and commercialization of fish, will receive 615,000 euros from the Dutch government to finance the production of tilapia minnows in Cape Verde. The production, estimated at 300 metric tons per year and slated to begin in late 2010, will be used as live bait for the tuna fishing industry in the country. Non-reimbursable resources correspond to 50% of the project’s total estimated worth of € 1.23 million (A Semana).

Cape Verde is one of five African countries that will benefit from World Bank financing for fishing-sector projects. The financing accord was signed by Cape Verde’s ambassador to Washington, D.C., Fátima Veiga, and the World Bank representative for Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mali and Senegal, Benjamin McDonald (A Semana).

COMING SOON: The South Atlantic in 2010

In Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Economy, Panama, Politics, South Africa, Surinam on December 6, 2009 at 5:05 pm

Atlantico Weekly announces its own assessment of political and economic developments in the South Atlantic democratic hemisphere: Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Panama, South Africa and Surinam. Watch this, it’s coming soon!

Brazil news update, December 6th

In Agriculture, Biofuels, Brazil, Economy, Energy, Foreign Trade, Investments, Mining, Oil, Stock exchange on December 6, 2009 at 5:02 pm

ECONOMY

Investors have piled back into Brazilian assets in the wake of the global financial crisis, sending the stock market soaring 83 percent and the currency up 37 percent this year. Are Brazil’s asset markets overvalued? Read the analysis at Reuters.

Car manufacturing in Brazil will climb in 2010, along with sales and export revenue, the national automakers’ association Anfavea said, with expectations for strong economic growth set to stoke domestic demand. Brazilian automobile production in 2010 could grow 5.4 percent, the group said, with sales to jump 9.3 percent (Reuters).

Brazil’s central bank said that dollar inflows into the country totaled $3.558 billion last month through Nov. 27 (Reuters).

BUSINESS

Since the start of the year the price of sugar futures has almost doubled. For Brazil’s big sugar companies the timing is perfect: the credit crunch set off a wave of consolidation in an industry that had been resistant to it. The firms that have survived now have more scale and lots of cash. Read the full story in The Economist.

Sao Martinho, one of Brazil’s main sugar and ethanol companies, will sell a 40 percent stake in its Boa Vista mill for 140 million reais ($81.9 million) to U.S-based Amyris (Reuters).

Brazil’s largest sugar and ethanol group, has closed a deal to buy the local Petrosul chain of filling stations based in Sao Paulo (Reuters).

Brazilian retail group Pao de Acucar reached an agreement to acquire a controlling stake in rival Casas Bahia in a noncash deal, gaining a commanding grip over the South American country’s booming home appliances market (Reuters).

Votorantim Group has signed a deal to join Trinidad and Tobago’s government-owned Alutrint in a project to build a 125,000 tonnes-per-year aluminum smelter in the Caribbean nation (Reuters).

Brazil’s crude steel output is forecast to rise to 33.1 million tonnes next year, up 24 percent from an estimated 26.7 million tonnes this year, the Brazilian Steel Institute said (Reuters).

Brazilian mining company Vale plans to invest 1 billion reais ($573 million) in a steel rolling mill in Rio de Janeiro state (Reuters).

Mirabela Nickel Ltd., an Australian miner, may build a smelter to process nickel ore from its Santa Rita mine in Brazil’s northeastern Bahia state and start underground mining (Bloomberg).

China’s Wuhan Iron and Steel Co agreed to pay $400 million for a 21.52 percent stake in Brazilian miner MMX, according to a regulatory filing (Reuters).

OIL

Brazilian oil upstart OGX said it had found a 50 meter column of hydrocarbons with net pay of 15 meters from a well it is drilling in the BM-C-41 block in the Campos basin (Reuters).

Earlier OGX had said it had made a promising discovery of hydrocarbons in the Albiano field in the Campos basin off the coast of Rio de Janeiro (Reuters).

The Abreu Lima refinery in Brazil, a joint venture between state-run oil companies Petrobras and Venezuela’s PDVSA, will cost roughly 23 billion reais ($13.3 bln), more than triple its previous estimate (Reuters).

Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil producer, plans to expand its $174.4 billion investment program as it develops offshore fields in the so-called pre-salt region (Bloomberg).

ATLANTICO

Trade between Brazil and Africa is incipient and needs to be worked on. African countries imported around US$500 billion, of which less than US$10 billion or 2% was from Brazil (Macauhub).

Angola news update, December 6th

In Angola, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Foreign Trade, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, South Africa on December 6, 2009 at 4:33 pm

ECONOMY

Angola may be forced to delay a planned $4 billion international bond sale until “early 2010” and seek a credit rating due to concern caused by Dubai’s request to reschedule debt payments, according to Eurasia Group (Bloomberg).

Angola has access to $400 million from the International Monetary Fund in addition to the $1.4 billion Standby Agreement approved by the lender on Nov. 23, the World Bank said (Bloomberg).

Luanda is the world’s most expensive expat city. For a full table of cities check Bloomberg.

The African Development Bank (BfDA) announced in Luanda it has set aside Usd 2.0 billion to finance projects in the private sector in the 2010/2014 period (ANGOP).

POLITICS

An Angolan minister said a separatist group that has waged war for control of the country’s oil-producing province of Cabinda for more than 30 years no longer existed (Reuters).

OIL

Angola’s national oil company, Sonangol, will hold 20 percent in Iran’s South Pars-12 project that will be developed at a cost of $7.5 billion (Reuters).

Romania will make “considerable” investments in the exploration and processing of minerals in Angola, including oil and diamonds. The two countries will sign an agreement early next year that will allow Romania to build and oil research and development center in Angola, the Luanda-based news agency said. Romania is also interested in investing in Angola’s oil, diamond, uranium, copper and energy industries (Bloomberg).

Angola has oil reserves that will make it possible to maintain daily production of 1.9 million barrels for the next 15 years, the country’s Oil Minister, Botelho de Vasconcelos said (Macauhub).

BANKING

The African Investment Bank (SA-BAI) was recently elected, by “The Banker” magazine of the Financial Times Group, as the best bank of the year in Angola due to the growth it recorded during the year 2009 (ANGOP).

South Africa’s Standard Bank, the biggest bank in South Africa, has been granted a banking license to operate in Angola, where it is due to start operating in mid 2010, the bank said in Johannesburg (Macauhub).

BUSINESS

Angola’s central Huambo province might become the national distribution centre for Panalpina, one of the world’s leading providers of forwarding and logistics services, specialising in intercontinental air freight and ocean freight (ANGOP).

ATLANTICO

An Angolan business delegation is in South Africa to get in touch with local entrepreneurs in light of the recommendations emanated from the recent visit to Angola by the South African President, Jacob Zuma (ANGOP).

Brazilian wholesale group Tenda Atacado at the end of November opened its first warehouse-store in the Angolan capital of Luanda, called Alimenta Angola (Feed Angola), the Brazilian press reported (Macauhub).

Brazil news update, November 29th

In Banking, Brazil, Economy, Energy, Investments, Mining, Politics on November 29, 2009 at 10:35 pm

POLITICS

President Ahmadinejad’s visit to Brazil this week vindicates Iran’s strategy of cosying up with Latin America. Read the full story in The Economist

Brazil’s share of those in poverty fell by half from 17% to 8%, an annual reduction of 3.2%. Read how it compares with China and India in The Economist.

ECONOMY

Brazil’s economy will grow 6.1 percent in 2010, bolstered by rising domestic demand, increasing exports and higher investment, according to Banco BradescoSA, the country’s second-largest bank by market value (Bloomberg).

INVESTMENT

Brazil’s Gerdau, the world’s second-largest maker of long steel, will focus growth in Brazil where investment in infrastructure is surging, the company’s chief executive told newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo (Reuters).

Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, plans to invest up to 6.2 billion reais ($3.5 billion) in Brazil from 2010 through 2014 as it aims to become the country’s biggest carmaker, the company’s Brazilian head said (Reuters).

Iron ore miner Vale said it planned to invest in another steel mill — this time in Para, the northern Brazilian state where its main Carajas iron ore mine is (Reuters).

Votorantim Participacoes SA, a closely held Brazilian producer of materials from aluminum to cement, plans to invest 4.5 billion reais ($2.6 billion) next year, a local newspaper reported, citing the company’s General Director (Bloomberg).

BANKING

State-owned Brazilian bank Caixa Economica Federal plans to announce the purchase of a stake in at least one more bank besides Banco Panamericano by year-end, newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo reported (Reuters).

Banco do Brasil, Latin America’s largest bank by assets, may seek acquisitions in the United States, looking to benefit from “devalued” prices among regional lenders, Chief Executive Aldemir Bendine said (Reuters).

Banco do Brasil is likely to pay the city of Sao Paulo 726 million reais ($413 million) to handle its payroll, the largest of any municipality in the country, Valor Economico newspaper reported (Reuters).

Brazil’s largest banks are too expensive after an “absurd” rally this year spurred by prospects they will accelerate lending to meet rising consumer demand, according to Mercatto Gestao de Recursos (Bloomberg).

ENERGY

Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega confirmed that the government will extend tax breaks to certain vehicles deemed environmentally friendly (Reuters).

Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras SA, aka as Eletrobras, Latin America’s largest power utility, aims to invest in U.S. electricity transmission in coming years, an executive said (Bloomberg).

Angola news update, November 29th

In Agriculture, Angola, Banking, Brazil, Economy, Energy, Investments, Oil, South Africa on November 29, 2009 at 10:05 pm

ECONOMY

Angola is considering setting up a Norwegian-style sovereign wealth fund to manage its oil revenues, Norwegian daily Aftenposten reported (Reuters).

Angola’s foreign exchange reserves unexpectedly fell for the first time in three months to $12.1 billion in October from $12.8 billion the previous month, despite a sharp recovery in oil prices, the central bank said (Reuters).

The International Monetary Fund said its board approved a $1.4 billion standby loan arrangement for Angola to help it cope with the effects of the global recession (Reuters).

The non-oil sector of the Angolan economy may grow 10,5 per cent as forecast in the national plan 2010/2011 (ANGOP).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Officials from Angola’s Central Bank and Finance Ministry have illegally transferred money abroad, prosecutors said, promising to recover the missing funds (Reuters).

ATLANTICO

A forum for the promotion of investments is scheduled for November 30 to December 1 in Salvador da Bahia, Brazil, aimed to develop partnership between small and medium companies from Angola and Brazil manufacturing industry and agriculture (ANGOP).

Angolan bank Banco Africano de Investimentos (BAI) is due to open a representative office in South Africa before the end of the year in order to do business in the continent’s largest economy, the bank’s chief executive said in Luanda (Macauhub).

Angolan state oil company Sonangol is set to acquire a controlling stake of a Brazilian oil company, at a cost of US$180 million, Brazilian financial newspaper Valor Económico reported (Macauhub).

BUSINESS

The state owned insurance company (ENSA) inaugurated a temporary branch in the northern Malanje Province, in the ambit of the programme to expand its activity in the country (ANGOP).

A total of Usd 4 million will be invested next year by the business group “Admar Damião”, for the construction of a vegetable and fruit processing and transforming plant in Chibia district, whihc is situated some 45 kilometres to the south of Lubango in Huila province (ANGOP).

Portuguese electricity company EDP – Energias de Portugal is looking into solutions to build a combined-cycle electric power plant in Angola, the group’s chief executive, António Mexia said in Figueira da Foz (Macauhub).

The process of selling 24 percent of the capital of Banco Espírito Santo Angola (BESA) to Angolan investors will be concluded soon, the chairman of Portuguese banking group Banco Espírito Santo (BES), Ricardo Salgado said in Lisbon (Macauhub).

AGRICULTURE

The World Bank (WB) will grant to Angola a credit of USD 30 million aimed at supporting the farmers in the provinces of Bié, Huambo and Malanje (ANGOP).

Brazil news update, November 22nd

In Brazil, Elections, Hotels, Investments, Oil, Politics, Tourism, Travel on November 23, 2009 at 8:39 pm

POLITICS

Whoever wins, Brazil should remain in capable hands after its presidential election. Read the analysis in The Economist’s The world in 2010

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Brasilia seeking support for his controversial nuclear program, the first leg of a South American tour that critics say could dent Brazil’s ambitions on the global diplomatic stage (Reuters).

Brazil will have created 1.3 million payroll jobs by the end of 2009, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said, as Latin America’s largest economy recovered from a brief recession (Reuters).

The U.S. is responsible for the crisis in the Middle East and shouldn’t be coordinating peace talks for the region, Brazilian President Lula said. Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians ought to be managed by the United Nations, Lula said in an interview today with two local radio stations in Salvador, Bahia state, where he met Palestinian Authority President Abbas (Bloomberg).

INVESTMENT

Ford Motor Co unveiled plans to invest 4 billion reais ($2.26 billion) to boost output in Brazil as record-low borrowing costs and a rapid economic recovery in Latin America’s largest country stoke demand for new cars (Reuters).

ArcelorMittal is seriously considering a feasibility study for a new steel plant in Brazil as it sees strong prospects for demand there, a senior executive said (Reuters).

Mozambique has signed two accords with Brazil for a $6 billion investment in biofuel exploration, the daily independent O Pais reported, citing António de Godoy, chairperson of the Brazilian confederation of biofuel companies Arranjo Produtivo Local do Alcool (APLA) (Bloomberg).

Four Seasons and Jumeirah Group plan to open their first hotels in Brazil as rising incomes in Latin America’s largest economy and the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic games generate demand (Bloomberg).

OIL

Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved a law creating a state holding company to manage new projects in the country’s recently discovered “sub-salt” oil reserves. The creation of the company, called Petrosal, is one of four laws sent to Congress by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva aimed at boosting state control over the huge oil reserves (Reuters).

SHIPPING

Brazilian iron ore miner Vale said that it was building 16 vessels with a capacity of 400,000 tonnes each to carry iron ore between Brazil and Asia (Reuters).

BUSINESS

Embraer has signed a $177.5 million deal with Oman Air for five 175 aircraft, its chief executive said (Reuters).

Cape Verde news update, November 22nd

In Banking, Brazil, Cape Verde, Economy, Hotels, Investments, Tourism, Travel on November 23, 2009 at 7:56 pm

ECONOMY

The 13th edition of the Cape Verde International Trade Fair (FIC) began on November 18, on the island of São Vicente, with the participation of businesses from Cape Verde, Portugal and Brazil, at a time when the government has expressed its intention to turn the archipelago into a business center for the Middle Atlantic. The nearly one hundred companies occupy a total of 92 stands distributed through two pavilions (A Semana).

BANKING

Macau-based company, Geocapital has become the biggest private shareholder in Cape Verdean bank, Caixa Económica de Cabo Verde (CECV), by acquiring 27.1 percent of its capital, the bank said in Praia (Macauhub).

INVESTMENT

The Spanish hotelier group Sol Meliá has reached an agreement with The Resort Group PLC to manage two new 5-Star Hotel Resorts on the Island of Sal, Cape Verde, under the MELIÁ brand (Hotelnews).

Brazil news update, November 15th

In Banking, Brazil, Economy, Elections, Investments, Oil, Politics on November 17, 2009 at 7:40 pm

POLITICS

Dilma Rousseff, Lula’s preferred successor, is a more interesting politician than she appears to be. But would she be different from her boss? Read the analysis in The Economist.

Politics, morality and dresscodes. A student gets suspended for wearing very short skirts. Read the story in The Economist.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva joined forces to step up pressure for an agreement at next month’s climate change meeting in Copenhagen (Reuters).

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva rejected criticism over the Iranian president’s visit to the South American country later this month, saying all sides needed to be involved to achieve peace in the Middle East (Reuters).

ECONOMY

Brazil takes off! Now the risk for Latin America’s big success story is hubris, says The Economist.

Brazil used to be all promise. Now it is beginning to deliver, says John Prideaux in The Economist special report on Brazilian finance.

Brazil’s currency, the real, is overvalued, said the country’s finance minister, Guido Mantega, speaking at a televised event in Sao Paulo. The country welcomes foreign investors, he said, but has concerns about the “exaggerated” valuation of the currency (Reuters).

President Lula is confident Brazil’s economy will grow by 5 percent in 2010 and expects foreign reserves to reach $300 billion soon, he told the Financial Times in an interview published (Reuters).

Brazil’s economy may have expanded about 9 percent in the third quarter, Lula said in his weekly newspaper column published today on Diario de Pernambuco website (Bloomberg).

OIL

Spanish oil group Repsol may tap the stock market with its Brazilian unit to help finance an expected $10 billion plus in oil exploration in Brazil in the next decade, its president said (Reuters).

Petrobras said it found oil in deep waters off Angola (Reuters).

Brazilian energy company OGX said it boosted estimated hydrocarbon resources to 6.7 billion barrels from 4.8 billion barrels (Reuters).

ENERGY

Brazil’s president denied that underinvestment was to blame for the worst power outage in a decade, which left a huge swath of the country in the dark for more than five hours and raised doubts about the reliability of its energy infrastructure (Reuters).

INVESTMENT

Nacional Minerios SA, the mining unit of steelmaker CSN, plans to invest $1.3 billion in two iron-ore pellet plants in Brazil (Bloomberg).

BANKING

Bank of Nova Scotia, Canada’s third- largest bank, wants to have a “small niche” in Brazil to expand in Latin America, its Chief Executive Officer said (Bloomberg).

Angola news update, November 15th

In Airports, Angola, Brazil, Investments, Oil, Security, South Africa, Travel on November 15, 2009 at 11:17 pm

INVESTMENT

Portugal’s retail-heavy conglomerate Sonae plans to expand to Angola and open its Continente hypermarkets in the southwest African country, Diario Economico newspaper said (Reuters).

OIL

Brazil’s state-controlled oil company Petrobras said it found oil in deep waters off Angola. The oil, in the Cabaca Norte-1 well, around 350 kilometers (219 miles) north of Luanda, is the second discovery within the 15/06 bloc in which Petrobras has a 5 percent stake (Reuters).

Petrobras is interested in exploring for oil in “deep and ultra-deep” waters off the coast of Angola, the Brazilian Trade and Industry Minister said (Bloomberg).

The chairman of Portuguese oil group Galp Energia said in Lisbon that production has seen a ”strong drive” with the start of production at the Tômbua-Lândana oil field, at which the company expects production of 90,000 barrels of oil per day in 2010 (Macauhub).

SECURITY

Armed Angolan gangs are targeting Chinese workers in “mafia-style” attacks, a construction boss said, creating a climate of fear among the Chinese community in Luanda Read the full story in the Mail & Guardian.

AIR TRAVEL

Angolan national airline Taag launched a direct flight between Luanda and Cape Town, with flights twice a week, Angolan news agency Angop reported (Macauhub).

Brazil news update, November 8th

In Banking, Brazil, Economy, Foreign Trade, Infrastructure, Investments, Mining, Oil, Politics, Ports, Real estate, Telecom on November 8, 2009 at 2:07 pm

ECONOMY

Brazil will publish on Monday a preliminary list of U.S. goods it intends to hit with trade sanctions in retaliation for Washington’s cotton subsidies, a senior government official told Reuters.

Emboldened by emergency measures that helped pull Brazil out of a brief recession, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is intervening more aggressively in the economy and betting on big government (Reuters).

Brazilian congressional committees passed two of four bills designed to overhaul the country’s oil legislation and give the government greater control over vast new offshore reserves (Reuters).

BUSINESS

Mexico’s state oil company Pemex said it signed a letter of intent with a consortium led by Brazil’s Braskem SA to supply raw materials for a proposed petrochemicals plant the consortium may build in Mexico (Reuters).

Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer will produce its 120-seat E-190 jet in China to respond faster when the country’s aviation market recovers, O Estado de S. Paulo said (Reuters).

Brazilian iron ore mining company Vale signed an agreement worth 900 million reais ($520 million) over three years granting access to its railway and port operations to local steel maker Usiminas (Reuters).

ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker, will partner with mining giant Vale to build a steel mill in southeastern Brazil as part of a plan to spend $5 billion in the South American country, Chief Executive Officer Lakshmi Mittal told daily Valor Economico (Reuters).

OIL & GAS

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras said it signed an agreement to buy Chevron Chile, a producer and seller of industrial lubricants under the brand name Texaco in Chile, for around $12 million (Reuters).

Brazil’s Petrobras has found natural gas in Peru’s Amazon jungle and the discovery of about 1 trillion cubic feet could turn out to be much larger, Peruvian President Alan Garcia said (Reuters).

INVESTMENT

Gerdau, Brazil’s largest steelmaker, plans capital expenditures of 9.5 billion reais ($5.5 billion) for the 2010-2014 period, with around 80 percent of the investments within Brazil, Chief Executive Andre Gerdau Johannpeter said (Reuters).

REAL ESTATE

Brazil, a future host of the World Cup and the Olympics, is drawing global investor interest to its real estate sector. As investors and analysts predict a wave of investment in Brazil in coming months, read a sampling of recent deals at Reuters.

TELECOM

America Movil Chief Financial Officer Varlos Garcia Moreno said Brazil’s economic resilience will help its wireless industry outpace other Latin American countries through 2010 (Bloomberg).

BANKING

Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, will become a major financial center, “just like the City of London, Frankfurt and New York,” said Emilio Botin, chairman of Banco Santander SA (Bloomberg).

Cape Verde news update, November 8th

In Airports, Brazil, Cape Verde, Economy, Tourism, Travel on November 8, 2009 at 1:25 pm

TOURISM

With the increase in the number of charter flights to the islands of Sal and Boa Vista, Cape Verde was the tourist destination that showed the highest growth this year, with the number of passengers traveling from Portugal more than doubling. One of the interesting pieces of data revealed is that the number of charter flights to Sal increased despite the new “competition” from Boa Vista (A Semana).

ATLANTICO

Brazilian entrepreneurs are attending this week’s Cape Verde International Fair as the archipelago could offer an opening into African markets, says Ruby Arauju, head of the Brazil-Cape Verde Chamber of Commerce in Brazil’s Ceara state (Macauhub).

ECONOMY

Cape Verde’s Finance minister last week contradicted the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s forecast about the growth rate of the country’s economy in 2009, saying that her data indicated a 4.5 to 5 percent growth rate (Macauhub).

Brazil news update, November 1st

In Biofuels, Brazil, Economy, Foreign Trade, Oil, Politics on November 1, 2009 at 10:38 pm

ECONOMY

Brazil’s primary budget fell into deficit last month, posting its worst result for the month of September on record, as tax revenues continued to trail an incipient rebound in Latin America’s largest economy (Reuters).

Brazil extended stimulus tax cuts on home appliances even as an economic recovery shows signs of gaining momentum (Bloomberg).

BUSINESS

Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer expects a reduction in spending on research and development and an increase in revenue to boost profit margins in the fourth quarter, Chief Financial Officer Luiz Carlos Aguiar said (Reuters).

The company, the world’s third-largest maker of commercial aircraft, foresees a 10 percent drop in revenue in 2010 (Reuters).

The Brazilian unit of French commodities group Louis Dreyfus said it agreed to take over Brazilian firm Santelisa Vale to create the world’s second largest sugar cane processor (Reuters).

General Motors said Brazil’s car market has “a very good outlook” and the automaker will reinvest profits from the country’s unit locally, Chief Executive Fritz Henderson told newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo in an interview (Reuters).

POLITICS

Honduras de facto government has started proceedings at the U.N. court in The Hague to stop Brazil giving refuge to ousted President Manuel Zelaya in its embassy in Tegucigalpa (Reuters).

Brazil’s Senate foreign relations committee approved Venezuela’s request to join the South American trade bloc Mercosur despite concerns over President Hugo Chavez’s thwarting of democracy (Reuters).

OIL

Brazil’s Congress began discussing proposals to change oil sector laws including one measure that would create a production-sharing model to replace the existing concession system in future oil projects. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is trying to boost state control over the massive subsalt oil deposits that could turn Brazil into a major energy exporter (Reuters).

Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras may change a plan to process more heavy crude at its Okinawa refinery, currently dedicated to lighter grades, its top executive said (Reuters).

Angola news update, November 1st

In Angola, Banking, Biofuels, Brazil, Economy, Oil, Security on November 1, 2009 at 10:04 pm

BUSINESS

South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co Ltd is likely to win a $300 million order from Angolan state-owned oil firm Sonangol for five tankers, online news outlet eDaily reported (Reuters).

LAW ENFORCEMENT

Angola on Wednesday called the conviction of the son of the late French President Francois Mitterrand and others over illegal arms sales to the African country as unjust, biased and politically motivated (Reuters).

ECONOMY

Angola’s council of ministers approved the oil producing nation’s 2010 budget that increases spending to 3.9 trillion kwanzas ($45.8 billion) from 2.6 trillion in the previous year, according to a government statement (Reuters).

OIL

Chevron’s crude oil production in Angola will rise by a quarter in the next two years and it expects new discoveries to boost the country’s oil production further, Ali Moshiri, Chevron’s president for Africa and Latin America said (Reuters).

The Angolan State-owned oil firm Sonangol and ENI Angola announced  the discovery of a new oil well of Cabaça Norte-1, Block 15/06 in deep waters of the country’s offshore, 350 kilometres to the north of the capital city (ANGOP).

Angola’s Oil Minister, José Maria Botelho de Vasconcelos, said in Recife, Pernambuco state (Brazil), that soon new oil concessions would be auctioned and granted for exploration (Macauhub).

BANKING

Banco Espírito Santo Angola (BESA) will have new Angolan shareholders before the end of this year, the bank’s chairman, Álvaro Sobrinho said (Macauhub).

ETHANOL

Brazilian group Odebrecht in 2010 plans to launch production of sugar and ethanol in Angola, said Humberto Rangel, Odebrecht Angola’s communications director said in Luanda (Macauhub).

Brazilian livestock firm JBS world player

In Brazil on October 31, 2009 at 12:54 pm

It may have escaped your notice that a Brazilian company, JBS, is about to become the world’s largest processor of meat.

Read the full story in The Economist

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