Month: February 2019

China eyes long-term food processing deals in Brazil: Chinese official

Posted on

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The Chinese government is looking to boost its presence in the Brazilian food processing sector and reach agreements on joint food safety controls that would allow for long-term supply deals between the countries, a Chinese official said on Wednesday.

Yang Wanming, who took over as China’s ambassador to Brazil roughly two months ago, said in a presentation to businessmen and Sao Paulo state government officials that the Asian nation is also looking into opportunities in the country’s infrastructure projects and oil refining sector.

 

By Marcelo Teixeira via Reuters

 

Read full article here

UPDATE 5-Brazil’s Senate confirms Campos Neto as central bank chief

Posted on

BRASILIA, Feb 26 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Senate confirmed Roberto Campos Neto as central bank governor on Tuesday, after he stressed that controlling inflation and reining in public spending were critical to supporting economic growth.

Much work must still be done to secure Brazil’s economic recovery, Campos Neto told the Senate’s economic committee at his confirmation hearing.

 

By Jamie McGeever via Reuters

Read full article here

Brazil’s BTG Pactual Is Latest Bank to Embrace Crypto Assets

Posted on

Banco BTG Pactual SA, Latin America’s biggest standalone investment bank, is joining the world of crypto assets with its own security token.

BTG plans to raise as much as $15 million through an initial offering for a token called ReitBZ that will be backed by distressed real estate assets in Brazil, Gustavo Roxo, the bank’s chief technology officer, said in an interview. The token will based on blockchain technology, the decentralized public ledger of transactions.

By Felipe Marques via Bloomberg

Read full article here

VW’s Traton gets 2018 profit boost from Brazil, higher sales

Posted on

FRANKFURT: Volkswagen’s truck and bus division increased its adjusted full-year operating profit last year by 13 percent thanks to a Brazilian market recovery, efficiency measures at MAN and a rise in vehicle deliveries.

Traton said on Monday it expects a return on sales of between 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent in 2019 as well as a slight increase in revenue and vehicle deliveries adding that an efficiency and cost cutting drive at MAN will continue.

By Edward Taylor via Channel NewsAsia

Read full article here

Minister Bento Albuquerque defends hybrid and fuel cell powered by ethanol

Posted on

Minister Bento Albuquerque defended the electric car using ethanol or natural gas as a source of energy during a meeting organized by the ANP, the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels. According to him, there are significant competitive advantages due to the already being technology in development by some assemblers, in addition to reconciling the efficiency of the electric motors and the national vocation for the production of biofuels. He also stressed the importance of solving the problems associated with the recharging time of the batteries. “Vehicular electrification technologies should not only consider the battery as the only trajectory to be followed, but as a trend of decarbonization on our planet,” says Beto Albuquerque – Minister of Mines and Energy.

By DATAGRO

Read full article here

Trade sector grows 0.9% in January

Posted on

Trade activity grew 0.9% in January compared to December 2018, according to the latest Serasa Experian Trade Activity Index numbers released on Tuesday (January 19). The highlights of the month were the construction materials industry, with 1.7% growth, and the cars, motorcycles & parts sector, which grew by 0.5%. On the other hand, the textiles, clothing, footwear and accessories category had the largest drop, at 5.4%, followed by supermarkets, hypermarkets, food and beverages (-1.4%); furniture, electronics and computers (-2.3%) and fuels and lubricants (-1.8%).

By BrazilGovNews

Read full article here

As Heat Scorches Fields, Brazil’s Soy Yields Prove Resilient

Posted on

Fields across Brazil’s Mato Grosso, the nation’s largest soybean state, have been plagued by dryness and scorching heat this season. That’s normally a recipe for disastrous yields. But thanks to better crop technology, farmers could still end up with a record harvest.

Take the case of Alexandre Di Domenico, who grows soybeans on about 16,000 hectares (40,000 acres) in the northeastern part of Mato Grosso. He’s seeing evidence that his yields will jump about 10 percent this year to an average 3,600 kilograms per hectare (53.5 bushels an acre). That’s even after his fields faced 20 days with almost no rain between December and January.

By Gerson Freitas Jr via Bloomberg

Read full article here

Next OPEC Headache Is Brazil’s Burgeoning Crude Production

Posted on

When the giant P-67 floating oil production vessel lit its flare tower earlier this month, it marked the start of a Brazilian supply boom that’s poised to challenge OPEC’s efforts to balance the global market.

The mammoth facility — long and wide enough to fit an American football field — is the first of four similar platforms to begin pumping crude this year, lifting Brazilian output by roughly 365,000 barrels a day, its largest annual increase in at least 20 years, International Energy Agency estimates show. A second platform, P-76, has also started production, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday.

By Sabrina Valle and Javier Blas via Bloomberg

Read full article here

Government announces R $ 6.8 billion for clean energy generation projects

Posted on

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, signed during the first 45 days of the government all grants to build 53 projects from the New Energy Auction A-6, which was held in August 2018. The projects total R $ 6, 8 billion in investments and 1,572,356 kW of final power. More than eight thousand direct jobs will be generated during the construction phase of the plants.

By DATAGRO

Read full article here

On Campus: Fundação Getúlio Vargas Is Training Brazil’s Next-Gen Workforce on Blockchain

Posted on

Brazil is a major economic power in Latin America and an important player on the world stage. This edition of On Campus shines a light on Sao Paulo’s Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), one of the country’s leading universities, as it leverages Ripple’s University Blockchain Research Initiative (UBRI) to train a global workforce in Brazil. FGV Professor Riccardo Rochman took us inside the university’s Crypto Master’s Program and its commitment to preparing Brazil’s rising blockchain entrepreneurs and leaders.

By Team Ripple from Newsletter on Brazil via Laura Randall

Read full article here

GREEN TITLES EMERGE AS ALTERNATIVE FINANCING FOR AGRICULTURE

Posted on

The Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA) seeks alternatives to develop the green securities market to finance low carbon projects. In this context, the entity held a meeting last Friday (15) in Brasilia with the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), an international organization that works to promote long-term capital markets through “green” financial instruments, such as Green Bonds.

Green bonds are debt financing or refinancing instruments issued by companies, financial entities, non-financial or public institutions, where the funds raised are 100% used to finance sustainable assets and projects. CBI Executive Director Justine Leigh-Bell and CNA technical advisors from the areas of agricultural policy, international cooperation, beef cattle, poultry and pigs, coffee, planted forests, the environment and irrigation participated in the meeting.

By DATAGRO

Read full article here

Microsoft launches AI skills initiative in Brazil

Posted on

Microsoft has announced a new initiative that will see more than 3 million Brazilian students getting trained in themes around artificial intelligence (AI).

During the Microsoft AI+Tour event in São Paulo, the firm’s chief executive Satya Nadella announced the pro-bono partnership with school networks SESI and SENAI to offer AI training in high school courses. During the announcement, Nadella pointed out that governments should accelerate the adoption of automation but create new capabilities at the same time.

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

Read full article here

Gremi Group’s January 2019 Newsletter

Posted on | Updated on

Gremi International SARL is an international holding, composed of a number of companies operating in Brazil, Luxembourg, Poland, United States and the Netherlands. Operations of the group are mostly focused on investments in two sectors: real estate (in Brazil and in Poland) and media (Poland).

The group was established in 1991 by a Polish entrepreneur, Grzegorz (Greg) Hajdarowicz. The first activity of the company was wholesale of pharmaceuticals. As the business grew, new activities were introduced. Over 27 years GREMI was involved in many equity investments in various projects, focusing on distressed companies, encompassing sectors such as real estate, media, dredging, furniture manufacturing, printing houses, chip card IT systems, heat pumps, hydraulics, financial services (factoring), film production and other.

Gremi International SARL – by developing business projects and establishing legal entities in Brazil, Luxembourg, Poland,  the United States and the Netherlands – is consistently implementing strategy of becoming an internationally acting holding company.

The core of Gremi International SARL business expansion strategy is represented by Portuguese speaking countries and regions of which Brazil (in particular the Eco Estrela Project) is currently the first and most significant one.

Read full newsletter here

SALES OF AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND IMPLEMENTS ARE EXPECTED TO GROW 10% BY 2019

Posted on

Agribusiness continues to be strong and farmers’ capitalization in general is very good, says Pedro Estevão Bastos, president of the Chamber of Agricultural Machinery and Implements (CSMIA), of the Brazilian Association of Machinery and Equipment Industry (Abimaq), on the perspective of the 10% increase in sales in the segment in 2019.

However, Bastos warns that such variables as exchange rate, credit availability, crop productivity and the consequences of the China-US trade war, which influence soybean prices, may interfere with the performance of the agricultural sector this year. “We also need to know how the new government’s agricultural policies will be in order to have the best forecast in the market.”

By DATAGRO

Read full article here

Onovolab Drives Multimillion-Dollar Plan To Expand Innovation Network In Brazil

Posted on

Independent innovation network Onovolab is driving a multimillion-dollar expansion of its co-creation centers across Brazil while attracting a flurry of corporate clients interested in tapping into external hubs for new technology projects.

The initiative launched in the city of São Carlos (144 miles from São Paulo) just over a year ago to act as a broker between traditional businesses and ventures with high-growth potential as well as a thriving academic community: the city’s universities produce one PhD for every 180 people, while the national average is one doctor per 5,423 inhabitants. The idea is that organizations can benefit from that mix for their own co-innovation initiatives.

By Angelica Mari via Forbes

Read full article here

Brazil’s BTG Pactual taps BlackRock veteran for equity funds

Posted on

SAO PAULO, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Brazilian investment bank Banco BTG Pactual SA tapped a veteran BlackRock Inc portfolio manager as its new head of equity funds and said it plans to launch a new Latin America-focused fund.

Will Landers, who left BlackRock in January, will join BTG Pactual as a partner, starting March 18, replacing José Zitelmann, who it said is leaving “to pursue other professional projects.”

By Yahoo! Finance

Read full article here

EMERGING MARKETS-Latam stocks, FX surge on global trade optimism, Brazil shines

Posted on 
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Most Latin American stock markets rose on Tuesday, buoyed by hopes of a U.S.-China trade deal as they more than recovered ground lost during the previous session, while
resurgent risk appetite strengthened Latin American currencies against a softer dollar.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he expects to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping to close a deal on trade at some point, while officials from both countries expressed hopes on Monday a
new round of talks would help improve strained trade ties between the world's top two economies.

By Aaron Saldanha via Reuters

Read full article here

Exports expected to grow about 20% over the next four years

Posted on

Changes in economic policy and trade relations should boost sales of Brazilian products abroad. Experts consulted by the Central Bank are betting that Brazil may reach almost US$ 300 billion in exports in the coming years. The estimate is in the Market Expectations System, which gathers daily forecast surveys of the Brazilian economy from about 130 banks, fund managers and other institutions. The numbers were released on February 1.

This year, foreign sales are expected to total US$ 249.05 billion, according to market forecasts. In 2023, the estimated value is US$ 295 billion. If predictions are confirmed, total growth in the period will be of 18.47%.

By BrazilGovNews

Read full article

Brazil inflation risks decline, global growth outlook darkens: Copom minutes

Posted on

BRASILIA, Feb 12 (Reuters) – Inflation risks in Brazil have moderated and threats to domestic and global economic growth have intensified, minutes of the Brazilian central bank’s last policy meeting showed on Tuesday.

Policymakers also noted that risks associated with U.S. Federal Reserve policy tightening have diminished, according to minutes of the Feb. 5-6 meeting, where they unanimously agreed to keep the benchmark Selic rate unchanged at a record low 6.50 percent.

By Jamie McGeever via Nasdaq

Read full article here

Brazil economy minister vows return of ‘order’ in sweeping reforms

Posted on

Brazil’s economy minister has vowed to end years of failed state interventions as Latin America’s largest economy embarks on sweeping free-market reforms under President Jair Bolsonaro.

In a wide-ranging interview, Paulo Guedes, the former fund manager chosen by the rightwing president to rekindle the Brazilian economy after the worst recession in its history, said a pension overhaul would save R$1tn ($350bn) over 10 years and be approved “within five months”.

By John Paul Rathbone and Andres Schipani via Financial Times

Read full article here

Minister confirms international travel agenda to improve exports

Posted on

The Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, is planning a series of trips with the objective of opening new markets and improving Brazilian exports. She said she will visit China, the United States, Europe, Arab countries and other nations with which Brazil wants to strengthen trade relations, such as Vietnam and Indonesia.

The minister said that she had already received the Chinese ambassador in Brazil on the MPLS and established some guidelines in common. She also expressed her intention to increase the commercial relationship with Peru, a country that is accelerating economic growth and has the potential to increase the bilateral market.

By DATAGRO

Read full article here

Increased Access Drives Brazil’s Visitor Growth

Posted on

Brazil’s tourism profile among Americans reached unparalleled heights in the earlier half of this decade when the South American nation hosted back-to-back international sports tournaments: the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

One million foreign tourists visited Brazil during the World Cup, according to officials at Embratur, the Brazil Tourist Board. More than 60 percent were visiting for the first time and U.S. and Canadian residents bought more than 200,000 match tickets, trailing only Brazilian purchases, said FIFA. Meanwhile, flights to Brazil increased by 289 percent between in the weeks prior to the 2016 Rio Olympics compared with the same period in 2015.

In the years since the country’s tourism officials have followed up on those high-profile events with a program of measures designed to ease American and Canadian travel to the country, even as the government struggled with economic and political unrest.

By Brian Major via Travel Pulse

Read full article

This Upstart Brokerage Inspired by Charles Schwab Is Changing the Way Brazil Invests

Posted on

For almost three decades, Wilson Feldberg kept his money in low-risk investments at Brazil’s biggest bank. Then, three years ago, he started moving almost all of it—the equivalent of about $1.5 million now—to an upstart brokerage, XP Investimentos SA.

Why? Feldberg, who owns a construction company in São Paulo with his brothers, wanted a chance at fatter returns and more personalized advice. “They explained things to me better, and I felt safer following their suggestions,” says Feldberg, a 47-year-old native of Recife. “Since I don’t have much time, I embrace their suggestions.”

By Felipe Marques, Cristiane Lucchesi and Vinicius Andrade via Bloomberg

Read full article here

Carpooling Firm BlaBlaCar Readies Evolution In Brazil

Posted on

The whole of France fits into Bahia, one of the 27 Brazilian states. That’s how Ricardo Leite, Brazil country manager at BlaBlaCar, tends to illustrate the scale of opportunities for the long-distance carpooling firm in one of its top three markets globally.

A population of 210 million people coupled with 50 million cars that are expensive to acquire and maintain and an inefficient public transport network makes Brazil a great market for the firm to thrive. Following its success in the country since launching in 2015, BlaBlaCar now wants to introduce subscriptions, insurance and pursue opportunities in the transport sector to monetize the local operation.

By Angelica Mari via Forbes

Read full article here

Brazil’s Social Security Reform Way Bigger Deal Than Bolsonaro’s Privatization Plans

Posted on

Privatization is yesterday’s political polemics. The market wants Brazilians to work more and earn less from government pension plans. Privatization is old school. Boring pension reform, that’s the new sexy. When doubts arise about Brazilian pension reform, the market tanks like it did on Wednesday.

“It’s an overreaction,” says Michael Reynal, a fund manager for Sophus Capital. Markets were down across the board today, but Brazil underperformed the MSCI Emerging Markets by over 300 basis points. ”We are not looking to sell Brazil, but there is some confusion over what proposal we are going to get,” he says, naming outgoing president Michel Temer’s watered-down but acceptable pension reform, or that of the new president, Jair Bolsonaro.

By Kenneth Rapoza via Forbes

Read full article here

Littler – Compliance in a New York Minute: Top 10 New Year Resolutions for Employers

Posted on | Updated on

PODCAST

Devjani Mishra and Emily Haigh, of Littler’s New York City office, list their top 10 labor and employment compliance new year resolutions for businesses operating in the Empire State in 2019. They review several laws taking effect this year, offer practical guidance on how to juggle new requirements day-to-day, and identify legislative trends and court decisions to watch.

Questions in Portuguese or English can be sent to Renata Neeser at rneeser@littler.com

By Littler

Click here to listen

Brazil’s Central Bank May Mull Key Rate Cut, Just Not Today

Posted on

When Brazil’s central bank meets on Wednesday, its outgoing President Ilan Goldfajn will leave the door open for his successor to deliver an unprecedented borrowing cost cut at his first policy meeting.

Since at least 1996, when the country’s current monetary policy board was created, no incoming bank governor has ever cut the benchmark Selic in his first meeting. Roberto Campos Neto, who was appointed by President Jair Bolsonaro and will face his Senate confirmation hearing as soon as this month, could be the first. The chances are so good that when Campos Neto attended an event in Rio de Janeiro last month, several former central bank chiefs joked how it was going to be smooth sailing for him and how he was lucky.

By Raymond Colitt and Mario Sergio Lima via Bloomberg

Read full article here

Disruptive technologies change the face of the Brazilian financial market

Posted on

Over the past few years the Brazilian financial market has blossomed, with an unprecedentedly open attitude towards technology and modernisation. For a country that has been historically conservative when it comes to monetary policy and burdensome bureaucracy, Brazil is now embracing innovation, and allowing new ideas to form and shake up the traditional standards and practices of its banking industry.

According to CB Insights, Brazil is Latin America’s leading tech hub. It accounts for most of the US$1 billion in venture capital invested in the region last year, and registered over 450 technology-oriented start-ups in 2018. Since 2014, there has been a sharp growth in new projects favouring business models built on technology, striving for sectors typically overlooked by larger players.

By Bruno Balduccini, Marília de Cara and Thomaz Braga de Arruda via Who’s Who Legal

Read full article here

Debevoise & Plimpton – O futuro do combate à corrupção envolvendo Brasil e Estados Unidos

Posted on | Updated on

O começo do ano nos permite revisitar acontecimentos recentes envolvendo o combate à corrupção no Brasil e nos Estados Unidos, assim como nos estimula a considerar o que esperar no futuro, particularmente em vista da eleição de Jair Bolsonaro e da escolha do ex-juiz Sergio Moro para chefiar o Ministério da Justiça.

Lava Jato, Carne Fraca e Zelotes estão entre as operações recentes de combate à corrupção originadas no Brasil que reverberaram nos Estados Unidos, intensificaram a cooperação entre as autoridades dos dois países e resultaram em incontáveis investigações, condenações, acordos e litígios altamente noticiados. O combate à corrupção nos Estados Unidos também repercutiu no Brasil, sendo a investigação relativa à Fifa talvez o caso mais ilustrativo.

By Bruce E. Yannett, David. A. O’Neil, Andrew M. Levine, Kara Brockmeyer e Daniel Aun via Estadao

Read full article 

Brazil mulls minimum retirement age of 65 for men and women

Posted on

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s government has opened discussions with congressional leaders, state governors and mayors on a pension reform bill that would set the minimum retirement age for men and women at 65, a government official said on Monday.

The proposal is one of several under consideration, as President Jair Bolsonaro looks to get the legislative ball rolling on his ambitious plans to overhaul Brazil’s creaking social security system.

By Reuters

Read full article here

Insurtech Pitzi Reinvents Brazil’s Mobile Insurance Market

Posted on

Brazilians are not big on mobile phone insurance and that’s something insurtech Pitzi wants to change, by providing better experiences for consumers who need devices fixed or replaced while creating conditions for large insurers to develop that market.

After building a career at financial institutions such as Morgan Stanley and Warburg Pincus, Daniel Hatkoff moved to Brazil from his native United States in 2012. He then noticed that local smartphone adoption was taking off but it was hard to get devices repaired when needed.

By Angelica Mari via Forbes

Read full article

Internet of Things May Contribute to More Profitable Agriculture, Embrapa Says

Posted on

The main challenges and opportunities in the internet of things (IoT) were the theme of a seminar held in São Paulo (SP) last Wednesday (30). Experts from public institutions, government and private sector representatives presented various initiatives underway in the country to make IoT increasingly present in the daily lives of the population. The event was promoted by Folha de S. Paulo, in partnership with Samsung.

By DATAGRO

Read full article here

Industry confidence rises in January

Posted on

The Brazilian productive sector began the year optimistic with the country’s economy. The Industry Confidence Index (ICI), measured by the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), reached the highest level since August last year. The rate reached 98.2 points in January, a 2.6-point increase in comparison with December.

By BrazilGovNews

Read full article here

Electric scooter startup Grin merges with Brazil-based Yellow

Posted on | Updated on

Consolidation in the micromobility space has arrived — in Brazil, at least. A few months after Y Combinator-backed Grin merged its electric scooter business with Brazil-based Ride, it’s now merging with Yellow, the bike-share startup based in Brazil that has also expressed its ambitions to get into electric scooters.

If Yellow  sounds familiar to you, it may be because, in September, the company raised $63 million in a funding round led by GGV Capital. That was the largest Series A round for a Latin American startup. A month later, Grin raised a $45.7 million Series A round.

By Megan Rose Dickey via Tech Crunch

Read full article here

Chamber Updates Stay connected with Chamber activities