BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to a new all-time low of 5.00% on Wednesday as expected, but signaled that further easing may be less aggressive than it has been in recent months, despite inflation running well below target.

In a change from recent statements, the bank’s policymakers warned that the historically low level of rates could raise uncertainty and lift inflation within the time horizon for which the bank sets policy.

 

By Jamie McGeever via KFGO

 

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(Bloomberg)—When Amazon.com Inc., No. 1 in the Internet Retailer 2019 Top 500, announced it was rolling out its popular Prime delivery subscription service in Brazil last month, shares of  local e-commerce competitors tanked. Investors also got jittery in 2017, when the world’s largest online retailer launched a marketplace to sell electronics. In both cases, the shares recovered quickly once investors reminded themselves of a durable truth about Brazilian ecommerce: Local firms have a firm igrip on the market and are in little danger of succumbing to the American interloper.

So it goes for Amazon in Latin America’s largest economy. Seven years after entering Brazil, the Seattle-based company is battling to gain traction against a handful of local competitors with extensive delivery networks, strong brands and a deep understanding of Brazilian shoppers.

 

Via Digital Commerce 360

 

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BRASILIA (Reuters) – The main aim of the Brazilian central bank’s monetary policy is to ensure low and stable inflation, Fabio Kanczuk, the monetary authority’s incoming director for economic policy, said at his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday.

In brief opening remarks, in which he made no further comment on his outlook for official interest rates, Kanczuk said “it is with monetary stability that we will get interest rates to the most appropriate levels, always firm in our objective of promoting an environment of sustainable economic growth.”

 

By Marcela Ayres via KFGO

 

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BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s benchmark interest rate will be cut to a record low of 5.00% on Wednesday, according to the unanimous view in a Reuters poll of economists, as the central bank battles to spur economic growth and prevent inflation from falling further below target.

All 31 economists surveyed say the bank’s rate-setting committee known as ‘Copom’ will reduce the Selic rate by half a percentage point for the third successive meeting. A dovish outlook for the next year from 25 economists was also unanimous.

By Jamie McGeever via Yahoo Finance

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Negotiations between Mercosur and Canada aimed at closing a free trade agreement are “intense”, with the possibility of being finalized by 2020. This was the information brought to the Committee on Foreign Relations and National Defense (CRE) of the Senate by the diplomat Pedro Henrique Lopes Borio on Thursday (24), when appeared before and had its name approved to head the Brazilian embassy in Canada.

“Interestingly, the coordinator of the negotiations on the Canadian side, David Usher, must occupy a prominent place in the new cabinet of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has just been re-elected. This shows the importance that Canada gives the Mercosur because they want to reduce the dependence of the US economy have. They want to diversify its trade. But this agreement is also of paramount importance to Brazil. Will open the Canadian government procurement market for us, that comes to $ 300 billion [about US $ 1.2 trillion] per year, “Borio said.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian fuel distributor Petrobras Distribuidora SA is considering creating energy trading units as it seeks to reposition itself after its privatization last July, Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico reported on Thursday.

The company is considering creating ethanol, electricity and natural gas trading businesses, Rafael Grisolia, BR Distribuidora’s chief executive, told the Thursday edition of Valor Econômico.

 

By Ana Mano via Reuters

 

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After decades of delay and political deadlock, Brazil has finally passed its long awaited pension reform. It is a big victory for the country’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro and his economic tsar, the University of Chicago-educated Paulo Guedes, who spearheaded its passage.  The costs of failure would have been high. Brazil’s ballooning pensions spending risked sparking “a social collapse” in Latin America’s largest economy, according to Rodrigo Maia, the Speaker of the lower house who shepherded the constitutional amendment required to reform the pensions system through a fractious Congress.

 

By Andres Schipani and Bryan Harris via Financial Times

 

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The Brazilian Research and Industrial Innovation (EMBRAPII) and Israel’s Innovation Authority (IIA, acronym in English) will support the development of four Innovation projects carried out in cooperation, Brazilian and Israeli companies. They will invest US $ 7.5 million. The resources include business investments in both countries, the agencies encouragements to innovation and research centers. The EMBRAPII finances non-reimbursable funds 1/3 of the Brazilian company in each project.

The projects, which cover several areas, are the first results of the cooperation agreement signed between EMBRAPII and the IIA, which aimed to expand mutual cooperation in science and technology of the two countries and facilitate the identification of business opportunities that can generate innovative products and systems to market. “The partnership with IIA showed that this initiative can lead the industries of Brazil and Israel to be more attentive to the wide range of opportunities to be explored between the two countries,” said Jorge Guimaraes, CEO of EMBRAPII.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) just scored another important order – this time from Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus (part of Volkswagen Group) for commercial vehicles in Latin America.

The newly signed long-term strategic cooperation agreement between CATL and VWCO will initially focus on all-electric Volkswagen e-Delivery trucks (11 and 14-ton version), that from 2020 will be produced in Brazil.

 

By Mark Kane via InsideEVs

 

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BRASILIA, Oct 22 (Reuters) – A measure of Brazilian inflation this month fell to its lowest in over 20 years, figures on Tuesday showed, cementing the view that the central bank will cut interest rates to a fresh all-time low next week and probably again before the year is out.

Consumer prices rose 0.09% from mid-September to mid-October, marking the weakest rate of this particular measure of monthly inflation for any month of October since 1998, according to government statistics agency IBGE.

 

By Jamie McGeever via Reuters

 

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SAO PAULO, Oct 18 (Reuters) – The Brazilian government awarded on Friday contracts for companies to build new power generation installations with combined capacity of 2.98 gigawatts, that will cost about 11.16 billion reais ($2.71 billion) to be built.

According to the power trading chamber CCEE, the new plants, which will need to be operational in six years, will sell energy for an average price of 176 reais per megawatt, a 33% discount over the initial price at the auction.

By Luciano Costa via Yahoo Finance

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(Bloomberg) — Banco do Brasil SA, Latin America’s biggest lender by assets, and a government-managed fund raised 5.8 billion reais ($1.4 billion) by selling shares of the state-owned bank, another step in Brazil’s effort to shrink the size of the state.

Shares of the company rose to a three-week high after the deal, which priced 132.5 million shares at 44.05 reais apiece, according to a regulatory filing. A little over half of the shares were sold by a Brazilian workers’ investment fund known as FI-FGTS, managed by another state-controlled bank, Caixa Economica Federal. The rest was sold by Banco do Brasil itself, which held some of its own shares through its treasury desk.

By Vinícius Andrade, Felipe Marques, Rachel Gamarski and Cristiane Lucchesi via Yahoo Finance

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RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Chinese power company State Grid is considering participating in the privatization of Brazilian state-run energy firm Eletrobras SA (ELET6.SA), Brazil Chief Executive Chang Zhongjiao said on Thursday.

“About Eletrobras there is no detailed information, if it is in accordance to our expansion plan, why not?” he told journalists in Rio de Janeiro.

 

By Rodrigo Via Gaier via Reuters

 

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CHICAGO/BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese importers have been busy booking fresh purchases of soybeans from Brazil this week, despite the White House announcement that China had agreed to buy up to $50 billion of U.S. farm products annually during trade talks last week.

Two traders said China has booked at least eight boatloads, or 480,000 tonnes worth $173 million, of Brazilian soybeans since Monday.

 

By Karl Plume and Hallie Gu via Reuters

 

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RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Senate passed the main text of a bill late on Tuesday defining the distribution of proceeds from a blockbuster auction of oil prospecting rights, a key milestone for the enormous offshore region known as TOR – the ‘transfer-of-rights’ area.

The bidders who win exploration and production rights in the massive Nov. 6 auction will be obliged to pay the government a combined signing bonus of some 106.5 billion reais ($25.8 billion), making it the largest oil bidding round in history, according to Brazilian authorities.

By Gram Slattery and Marta Nogueira via Yahoo Finance

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Ebanx, the newly minted Brazilian financial services unicorn, expects to process $2 billion in payments by the end of the year and is looking to expand its offerings into domestic payments as it grows.

Since its launch in 2012, Ebanx has primarily focused on helping international merchants sell locally in Brazil. The Brazilian business accounts for nearly 90% of the company’s revenue, but as it expands into other markets the company is also broadening its suite of services.

 

By Jonathan Shieber via Tech Crunch

 

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A source has revealed that Brazilian lender Banco Inter SA is currently in discussions with Uber about partnering in financial services.

The move is another move by Japan’s SoftBank Group — which is a shareholder in Uber — to integrate its business in Latin America. While the source wouldn’t comment on the terms of a possible deal, it would target the rideshare giant’s drivers and Banco’s more than 3 million clients. Brazil is now Uber’s largest market outside the United States, with São Paulo boasting more Uber rides than any other city in the world.

 

By Pymnts

 

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s largest truckmakers are expressing optimism again about the growth prospects for Latin America’s largest economy, even as the country continues to struggle to rebound from a deep recession that began in 2015.

“We are breathing optimism,” said Martin Lundstedt, Volvo Group’s President and CEO (VOLVb.ST), who traveled to Sao Paulo to take part in the biennial Fenatran expo, the largest truck and machinery trade show in the country.

 

By Marcelo Rochabrun via Reuters

 

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No dia 4 de novembro acontecerá em São Paulo, o lançamento do livro “Entendendo a Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil” de Cooordenação e Coautoria de Felipe Neves.

Felipe é Fellow do nosso POY Fellowship Program e Presidente e Fundador do Projeto Constituição na Escola. O objetivo do Projeto, através das aulas sobre a Constituição Federal Brasileira, é expandir a noção cívica dos estudantes, ensinando-lhes sobre seus direitos e deveres constitucionais, para que tenham uma base educacional sólida para compreender a importância de ser um cidadão consciente.

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In an encouraging development for Brazil’s offshore oil exploration and production (E&P) sector, a bevy of big industry names queued up for the latest rights on offer agreeing to fork up $2.2 billion.

On Thursday (October 10), the country’s government confirmed that ten companies had agreed to pay the amount for drilling rights in 12 offshore oil blocks, with the country’s pre-salt deposits, i.e. exploration prospects in which billions of barrels of oil are trapped beneath a layer of salt underneath the ocean bed, attracted the most attention.

 

By Gaurav Sharma via Forbes

 

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The Minister Tereza Cristina (Agriculture, Livestock and Supply) said on Thursday (10) that Brazil is already recognized as an agricultural powerhouse, but has room to continue growing in a sustainable manner. By participating in the Brazil Panel: Sustainable Agricultural Power, during the Investment Forum Brazil 2019 in Sao Paulo, the minister said Brazil wants to move beyond the current 7% share in world trade.

“We are one of the few countries in the world with the capacity to significantly expand the provision of sustainable food. To follow increasing domestic production and minimizing impacts on the environment, the Brazilian government and the private sector need to continue working together, “said the minister, noting that Brazil should effectively assume their global agri-environment power vocation.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Coffee trees all over Brazil’s top producing state Minas Gerais have bloomed this week, marking the first major flowering for the new Brazilian coffee crop that could indicate the size of next year’s production.

Farmers and analysts shared pictures and videos of their crops, with trees full of flowers or flower buds. Agronomists say a good flowering, ample and uniform, followed by adequate moisture and mild temperatures, could lead to good production.

 

By Marcelo Teixeira via Reuters

 

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BRASILIA, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Federal Audit Court known as the TCU unanimously approved on Wednesday the ground rules for a major auction of pre-salt oil concessions in a “transfer of rights” (TOR) area off the country’s southeastern coast.

The government expects to raise 106 billion reais ($25.8 billion) from the auction scheduled for Nov. 6, which is expected to attract a range of major global oil companies to tap one of the world’s most promising conventional oil plays.

 

By Gabriel Ponte via Reuters

 

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BRASILIA, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Brazilian consumer price inflation fell to its lowest in more than a year in September, official figures on Wednesday showed, a reading below the central bank’s target that is likely to strengthen expectations of another cut in interest rates.

The benchmark IPCA index of inflation rose 2.89% in the 12 months through September, down from an increase of 3.43% in the previous month, government statistics agency IBGE said on Wednesday.

 

By Jamie McGeever via Reuters

 

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As part of its grander geostrategic ambitions, Brazil aims to expand its strategic reach in the Indo-Pacific region. Moving from a regional power in South America to a global player will entail Brasilia extending its influence across the Pacific to the west coast of Africa and eventually around to the wider Indo-Pacific region.

This grand strategic vision has accelerated under the current Brazilian leadership.

 

By Balaji Chandramohan via The Diplomat

 

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BRASILIA, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) — Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday submitted to Congress a bill drafted by the Central Bank of Brazil to modernize the foreign exchange market.

“The objective of the bill is to establish a new, more modern, more concise and legally secure framework for the foreign exchange and capital markets in Brazil and Brazilians abroad,” said the bank in a press release.

 

Via Xinhua

 

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BRASILIA, Oct 4 (Reuters) – President Jair Bolsonaro signed a law modernizing Brazil’s telecommunications regulations on Friday in a move long expected by the industry to allow new investment opportunities and help salvage bankrupt carrier Oi SA .

The law, which took five years to clear Congress, will boost telecom companies by lifting restrictions on sales of their formerly state-owned assets. It will also allow for a secondary market for trading cellphone frequencies.

 

Via Reuters

 

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Congratulations to Bruno Yoshimura and the ONEVC team for this important achievement. Bruno is a fellow of our POY Fellowship Program and a member of our Young Professionals Committee. 

**

In recent years, Brazil’s startup scene has exploded as investor interest in Latin America as a whole has increased. And ONEVC, a cross-border fund dedicated to investing in U.S. and Latin American startups, is ideally poised to capitalize on that.

The firm, with offices in São Paulo and San Francisco, has closed its first fund, ONEVC FUND I LP, Crunchbase News has learned exclusively.

The firm has $30 million under management, along with $8 million to invest in “special opportunities” (more about those later). Since it was formed in November 2017, ONEVC has already seen two portfolio companies become unicorns and another (San Francisco-based HeyDoctor) exit.

By Mary Ann Azevedo via Crunchbase News

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BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s services sector activity expanded in September at the fastest pace in six months, a closely watched purchasing managers index survey showed on Thursday, with employment growth in the sector hitting its highest in over five years.

The latest IHS Markit PMI figures suggest Brazil is bucking a global trend consistent with sharply slowing activity and even recession across the United States, Europe and Asia.

 

By Jamie McGeever via KFGO

 

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc will launch its virtual assistant Alexa in Brazil starting this month, with plans for three different devices with the software installed, as it rapidly expands operations in Latin America’s largest economy.

The move comes only three weeks after the U.S. e-commerce giant introduced its Prime subscription service to Brazilian consumers, toughening the competition with local retailers by offering unlimited nationwide free shipping and a maximum 48-hour delivery time in over 90 municipalities.

 

By Gabriella Mello via Reuters

 

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BRASILIA, Oct 1 (Reuters) – Industrial production in Brazil rose in August at its fastest pace in more than a year, official figures on Tuesday showed, a sign that Latin America’s largest economy may slowly be turning a corner after flirting with recession earlier in the year.

The recovery may be on an uneven footing, however, as intermediate goods production was the only one of four broad economic categories to grow, and only 10 of the 26 narrower sectors surveyed managed to expand in the month.

 

By Jamie McGeever via Reuters

 

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