Author: Lucca Suassuna de Carvalho

Brazil Minerals, Inc. Announces Its First Iron Project and Technology Partnership Development

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PASADENA, Calif., May 31, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — via OTC PR WIRE — Brazil Minerals, Inc. (BMIX) (the “Company” or “Brazil Minerals”) announced today that it has obtained the rights to an iron project area with 4,120 acres in the “Quadrilátero Ferrífero” (Iron Quadrangle), one of the premier iron regions in the world with multiple operating mines. Iron ore is in high demand with strong sales of Brazilian iron ore for export (mainly to China) or for use by local steelmakers. Recently, the price of iron delivered at a foreign port spiked to US$109 per ton, the highest since 2013.

 

By GlobeNewswire via Yahoo Finance

 

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Brazil State Signs MOU For Smart Tailings Dam Monitoring

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The Brazilian state of Minas Gerais – the site of two recent disastrous tailings dams disasters – has inked a Memorandum of Understanding with technology firm Inmarsat providing to provide smart monitoring for the dams.

Inmarsat and the Brazilian state will explore several options to “achieve improved awareness and transparency of the tailings dams in the region,” which may lead to Inmarsat providing Internet of Things technology to the local government for dam monitoring.

 

By Jax Jacobsen via Forbes

 

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Government wants to increase Brazil’s share of world agricultural trade from 7% to 10% in two years

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Brazilian Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo said on Wednesday (29), in an audience in the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture, that the government’s objective is to increase Brazilian agricultural participation in world trade from 7% to 10% in two years, informs the “Chamber Agency”.

In the assessment of the chancellor, the trade war between China and the United States can bring opportunities for Brazilian agribusiness. In his presentation, the minister pointed out that there is an effort by Itamaraty to counter what he called “misinformation” published by the international press about the environmental sustainability of Brazilian agribusiness.

 

By DATAGRO

 

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Ripple-Powered Cross-Border Remittance Platform Launches in Brazil

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Brazil-based exchange broker Frente Corretora de Câmbio (The Front Exchange) has launched its fintech collaboration with San Francisco-based startup Ripple. The new blockchain platform, Simple, is designed to allow people in Brazil to send money abroad without the high fees and the slow transaction times that are common among traditional payment rails.

The team behind Simple aims to deliver a robust cross-border remittance solution for everyday Brazilians, such as families  with students abroad who are studying and need to receive money to cover basic living expenses.

 

By The Daily Hodl

 

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Northern Brazil power line to avoid impact on tribe: document

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – The builders of a new power transmission line to the northern Brazilian state of Roraima have pledged to deploy 200 inspectors to reduce the environmental impact on an indigenous reservation where they will erect 250 pylons, according to an environmental assessment document seen by Reuters.

It said they also had committed to keeping secret any geological information on the discovery of mineral resources to avoid drawing illegal mining interests that have long set their sights on the land of the Waimiri Atroari tribe.

 

By Luciano Costa via Reuters

 

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Ministry studies implantation of agricultural innovation pole in Rio

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Luiz Cláudio de França, director of the Department of Innovation Support for Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MPLS), met last Friday (24), during the 8th Green Rio Conference in Rio de Janeiro, with representatives of the State Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Supply (Seappa-RJ), the Agricultural Research Company of Rio de Janeiro (Pesagro-Rio), and Embrapa Solos, to discuss the implantation of an agricultural innovation pole in Rio de Janeiro.

The idea is to join public agencies related to agriculture, science and technology, universities and private initiative in search of regional agribusiness development and also the dissemination of knowledge to benefit agriculture in other regions of the country.

 

By DATAGRO

 

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Norway’s BW Offshore to float Energy to fund Brazil growth

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OSLO (Reuters) – Oslo-listed BW Offshore said it will float BW Energy this year to help expand the oil and gas business, particularly in Brazil, as its first quarter earnings rose 72%.

Shares in BW Offshore, originally an owner of floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels operated on behalf of oil companies, were 17.6% higher at 60.6 Norwegian crowns by 0901 GMT on Thursday.

 

By Terje Solsvik and Victoria Klesty via Reuters

 

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Fiat Chrysler to invest $4B to regain lost share in Brazil

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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is bringing new models to Brazil and expanding production at two local factories as part of a 16 billion reais ($4 billion) plan to regain lost market share in Latin America’s biggest economy, CEO Mike Manley said.

FCA increased its investment plan for Latin America by 2 billion reais through 2024, though it extended the time frame of outlays first announced in June by a year.

 

By Gabrielle Coppola, Vinicius Andrade and Leonardo Lara via Automotive News Europe

 

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Brazil lower house votes to allow foreign airlines in domestic market

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BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s lower house of Congress voted on Tuesday to allow foreign-controlled airlines to operate domestic flights in Latin America’s largest economy, opening the door to more competition in an increasingly concentrated market.

The chamber approved the original text of a decree issued by former President Michel Temer in December that removed the 20% limit on foreign ownership of Brazilian airlines.

 

By Maria Carolina Marcello and Anthony Boadle

 

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The Mysterious Ancient Underwater Roman Relics of Brazil

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In the southeast region of the country of Brazil lies Guanabara Bay, off the coast of the major metropolis of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second largest bay in Brazil, but other than that there is nothing particularly special about it other than perhaps the large amount of pollution here. However, lying approximately 15 miles offshore, buried down in 100 feet of water across an area around the size of three tennis courts is a rather strange oddity. Here scattered along the bottom are various relics from ancient Rome, far from where they have any business being, and which have remained a baffling historical anomaly and conundrum that remains unsolved.

 

By Brent Swancer via Mysterious Universe

 

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Venture Funding In Brazil Soars To $1.3B In 2018

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As South America’s largest country, Brazil has the potential to be an economic powerhouse. But over time, political turmoil, largely as a result of corruption, has marred the economic landscape.

Still, despite the political upheaval in recent years, the country’s startup scene has seen some serious acceleration, reflecting a general trend we’re seeing in Latin America as a whole.

 

By Mary Ann Azevedo via CrunchBase News

 

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Can Backseat Snacks Help Uber Take Brazil?

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If it’s going to conquer the world one foreign market at a time, Uber has considerable work to do in Latin America. Populous cities with iffy public transit portend big business, but the competition there is fierce and well-funded, with local taxi operators plus Chinese giant DiDi and its subsidiary 99, and the Daimler-backed scrappy Greek upstart Beat. Now the newly public company could get a boost in its driver rosters in Brazil, thanks to a partnership between backseat mini-convenience store Cargo and the local ampm operator Ipiranga.

 

By Julia Walmsley via Forbes

 

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Spain’s Globalia to launch new air carrier in Brazil: cabinet minister

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Spanish tourism and transportation company Grupo Globalia will launch a new air carrier in Brazil, Brazilian Infrastructure Minister Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas said in a message posted on Twitter on Saturday.

Globalia owns the Air Europa carrier and companies in the tourism sector, including hotel operators and travel services such as Travelplan and Groundforce.

 

By Marcelo Teixeira and Roberto Samora via Reuters

 

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Ministry of Agriculture launches program Bioeconomia Brasil

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Minister Tereza Cristina (Agriculture, Livestock and Supply) launches this week the program Bioeconomia Brasil – Sociobiodiversidade. The objective of the program is to promote the structuring of productive systems based on the sustainable use of products of biodiversity and extractivism.

The launch will take place during the first day of programming at Green Rio 2019, a business fair for organic and sustainable entrepreneurs. The eighth edition of the event will be held from next Thursday (23) until Saturday (25) at Marina da Glória, Rio de Janeiro.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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Cryptocurrency regulation gets the go-ahead in Brazil

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Brazil’s move towards cryptocurrency regulation took a step closer this month as the government in Brasilia agreed and published ‘instruction 1888’.

The instruction passes new rules that come into force on August 1, meaning that individuals, legal entities and brokerage firms that carry out operations with crypto will have to inform the treasury of every detail of their transactions.

By Gabriel Quintanilha via Yahoo Finance

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Mobile accounts for nearly half of all banking transactions in Brazil

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Brazilians have embraced mobile banking as their preferred means to handle their banking affairs as the channel accounted for nearly half of all transactions carried out last year, according to a new report.

The latest research on banking technology trends carried out by Deloitte on behalf of the Brazilian Banking Federation (FEBRABAN) also shows that the number of transactions overall, so any interaction involving a financial element or not, has seen an increase of 24 percent in 2018 in relation to the prior year.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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Brazil’s 1st waste-generated energy plant will be in Paraná

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The state of Paraná will have the first energy plant in Brazil generated from “waste” – that is, a combination of organic waste and sewage sludge. The plant will use biodigestion technology: from this input, it will produce biogas which, in its turn, will be converted into electric power.

The project aims to reuse 1,000 cubic meters of sewage sludge and 300 tons of organic waste daily – a volume which would be disposed into the environment. It’s also planned to convert organic waste into biofertilizers and recycle waste plastic to produce bags.

 

Via Bluevision Braskem

 

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Agro wins digital platform for data storage of agricultural machinery

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In partnership with seven agricultural machinery manufacturers, the Brazilian Association of Machinery and Equipment Industry (Abimaq) presented the latest Agrishow the Farmer Collaborative Database (BDCA).

According to the partners, this is a digital platform that aims to store – in an independent environment – data collected from machines, implements, sensors, among other devices and equipment, used in the field, for later consultation.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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Brazil healthcare firm Hapvida looking for more acquisitions: CEO

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian healthcare provider Hapvida Participacoes e Investimentos SA will look for more acquisitions in the near future after agreeing to acquire rival group Sao Francisco Saude for 5 billion reais ($1.26 billion), Chief Executive Officer Jorge Pinheiro told reporters on Tuesday.

The deal will enable Hapvida to expand to Brazil’s southeastern, southern and center-west regions, from its current focus only on the north and northeastern regions.

 

By Carolina Mandl via Reuters

 

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Brazil expects to collect at least $47 billion in signing bonuses from oil auctions

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HOUSTON (Reuters) – Brazil expects to collect at least $47 billion in signing bonuses this year from three upcoming offshore oil auctions set for October and November, an official said on Monday.

An Oct. 27 sale of production rights in Brazil’s so-called transfer-of-rights area – one of the world’s most promising offshore oil areas off the coast of southeastern Brazil – could draw $27 billion (106 billion reais) in signing bonuses, said Marcio Felix, executive secretary for oil, gas and biofuel at Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy, at a Houston energy conference.

 

By Collin Eaton via Reuters

 

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BNDES President highlights importance of RenovaBio

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The president of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), Joaquim Levy, said on Monday (06) that Brazil has enormous opportunities for the application of technologies in mobility that allow for lower carbon emissions and increasing use of energy efficiency, reports Agência Brasil. For him, public policies that stimulate the development and application of these technologies, as well as the production of low-carbon fuels, are fundamental for growth and have a high benefit for society.

“The future of mobility goes through different paths such as the use of public or individual transport, zoning determining routes for greater or lesser distance, as well as the choice of different modalities for the transportation of cargo,” Levy said at the opening of the seminar Future of Mobility – More Energy Efficiency and Less Environmental Impact, promoted by the BNDES, at the institution’s headquarters, in downtown Rio.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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Grupo Zap Introduces I-Buyer Model To Reignite Brazil’s Real Estate Market

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Online firm Grupo Zap is chasing a billion-dollar opportunity by introducing the instant home buyer (i-buyer) model in Brazil, with plans to nearly double its workforce and enhance data analytics capabilities to support the new business.

With Grupo Globo, one of Latin America’s largest media conglomerates as a majority shareholder and the likes of Monashees and Kaszek Ventures as backers, Zap owns the two largest real estate marketplaces in Brazil and provides a range of data-driven services to the industry.

 

By Angelica Mari via Forbes

 

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LATAM seeks to bolster U.S.-Brazil business

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Flying to South America from the U.S. often means an overnight flight and multiple stops.  In other words — no sleep.

LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America’s biggest airline, is aiming to change that and, in the process, attract more U.S. visitors to Latin America.  Along with more flights, the airline also is adding more comfortable seats.

 

By Barbara Redding via Travel Weekly

 

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Brazil’s Neonergia signs off on IPO plan

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May 2 (Renewables Now) – Spanish energy company Iberdrola (BME:IBE) informed on Tuesday that shareholders of its Brazilian unit Neoenergia SA had voted to approve the company’s initial public offering (IPO) of shares.

Iberdrola, which holds a 52.45% stake in Neoenergia, said ahead of the vote this Monday that the listing would take place in the first half of the year.

 

Via Renewables Now

 

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Petrobras to sell eight Brazil refineries, help open domestic market

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Rio de Janeiro — Brazil’s Petrobras plans to sell eight refineries, accounting for nearly half the country’s refining capacity, amid an aggressive move by the company’s new management to ramp up asset sales and open the domestic refined product market.

 

“The new directives for asset sales, with a focus on the refining and distribution segments that includes the full sale of PUDSA, a service-station network in Uruguay; eight refineries totaling 1.1 million b/d of refining capacity; and the sale of an additional stake in Petrobras Distribuidora, or BR,” the company said in a filing made with stock regulators Friday.

 

By Jeff Fick via S&P Global Platts

 

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Huawei partners with local retailers to sell flagship smartphones in Brazil

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd on Tuesday launched two high-end smartphone handsets in Brazil, making its second attempt to penetrate the world’s fourth-largest smartphone market, broadening its footprint in Latin America.

 

“We are in a very different market share position than we were five years ago and we’re seeing tremendous brand momentum,” Ketrina Dunagan, Huawei’s vice president of marketing for the Americas, said in an interview on the sidelines of the launch event in Sao Paulo.

 

By Gabriela Mello via Reuters

 

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Brazil ushers in open banking model

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Brazil has taken another step towards further developing its financial services ecosystem by approving the implementation of open banking.

The country’s central bank has also approved and issued guidelines to be considered while the model is implemented.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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Embrapa’s social balance shows high impact of the agricultural research for the Country

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Embrapa has made available the updated version of its Social Balance Sheet. It is a publication that focuses on the use and adoption of the technological solutions generated by the Company and its impacts on society. The balance is made for the 22nd consecutive year.

Of the total results delivered by the Company, throughout its history, 165 technological solutions were evaluated in 2018 and the economic impacts it generates form the so-called “social profit”. The results of the Embrapa Social Report show that Embrapa has a social return of R $ 43.5 billion.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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Private Investors Raise Bets in Brazil Power Sector

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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – International private companies have increased their investment in Brazil’s power sector over the last three years even as the country’s cash-strapped state-controlled companies have cut back, a Reuters survey of power companies shows.

 

Eight out of 11 large foreign private firms operating in Brazil boosted investments in the power sector from 2016 to 2018, some of them by more than 200 percent, the poll showed.

 

Via The Rio Times

 

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Malaysia’s Petronas buys 50% equity in Brazil deepwater assets from Petrobras

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Singapore — Malaysia’s Petronas said Friday it bought a 50% equity stake in deepwater concessions in the Campos Basin in offshore Brazil from Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras.

 

The deal represents Petronas’ efforts to boost its upstream reserves and production, growing cash flows and shrinking domestic output. A price was not disclosed.

 

By Eric Yep via S&P Global Platts

 

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Brazil’s GPA sales rise, closes in on supermarket leader Carrefour Brasil

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian supermarket chain Grupo Pão de Açúcar SA on Wednesday posted first-quarter sales up 12 percent from a year ago, closing the gap on Carrefour Brasil, the market leader in Latin America’s largest economy.

GPA, which is owned by France’s Casino Guichard Perrachon SA, reported gross revenues of 13.8 billion reais ($3.46 billion), driven by gains in its wholesale division, Assaí.

 

By Gabriela Mello via Reuters

 

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Is Brazil to Become the Next Eldorado of Digital Revolution?

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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Top consultants McKinsey and “Brazil at Silicon Valley” have produced a report that aims to shed light on Brazil’s digital development. And the result seems clear to the authors: Brazil has the potential to become the next big thing in the digital revolution.

 

Mauro Mantica from the famous Bocconi University in Milan is also convinced of the digital potential of Brazil.

 

Via The Rio Times

 

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Brazil’s Magazine Luiza sells books online in new challenge to Amazon.com

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian retailer Magazine Luiza on Tuesday announced it would start selling physical books online for pickup in its chain comprised of almost 1,000 stores, using its national footprint to compete with traditional booksellers and Amazon.com Inc.

Brazil’s more established booksellers are facing financial headwinds, leading Saraiva Livreiros SA and Livraria Cultura to file for bankruptcy protection last year.

 

By Gabriela Mello and Alberto Alerigi Jr.

 

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U.S. tractor maker AGCO rolls out Fendt line for Brazil farmers

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SAO PAULO, April 23 (Reuters) – U.S. agricultural machine maker AGCO Corp said on Tuesday it would launch its flagship Fendt line of equipment in Brazil later this year, targeting large soybean farmers in the vast center-west region.

AGCO will first bring the German-made line of Fendt Vario high-power tractors to Brazil’s grain heartland, the company’s South America chief Luís Felli said at a presentation in Sao Paulo.

By Marcelo Teixeira via Yahoo! Finance

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Infrastructure is now the hot Story in Brazilian Commodities

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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The man in charge of Brazilian sugar giant Cosan Ltd. has little interest in talking about the sweetener. These days, he’s all about railways, writes Bloomberg in its latest report. Cosan is controlled by 69-year-old Rubens Ometto, one of the sixty most powerful men in Brazil.

 

The business that gave life to Cosan — the world’s biggest sugar-cane operation — has been stuck in the doldrums following years of depressed global prices and government policies that curbed the expansion of cane ethanol in Brazil. In stark contrast, the commodity powerhouse is ready to invest “tens of billions” in a plan that will reshape how the nation’s crops get transported, Chief Executive Officer Marcos Lutz said.

 

Via The Rio Times

 

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Brazil’s Maritime Industrial Transportation Opportunity

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Brazil’s coastline of some 3,000 nautical miles includes several large cities in a layout that makes Brazil the ideal location to develop, manufacture and operate maritime transportation technology that could also have international market potential.

While Russia is internationally recognized in high-speed maritime transportation technology courtesy of their construction and demonstration of the Caspian Sea Monster ground-effect plane, Russia is also at a disadvantage in terms of testing, demonstrating, domestically operating and improving a commercial version of such technology. Much of Russia’s population lives at western inland locations and not along Russia’s coast. A mega-size commercial freight transport ground effect vehicle might optimally be developed in a nation with an extensive coastline that includes multiple large cities spread along that coastline. The vehicle needs to be proven in domestic coastal transportation service.

 

By Harry Valentine via The Maritime Executive

 

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Embraer Wants Brazil to Lead the Flying Car Market

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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Common parts in science fiction films and cartoons, flying cars are becoming closer to reality. Brazil wants to lead the development of this segment in the world, according to executives from Embraer’s Atech subsidiary, present at the 12th LAAD Defense & Security.

“We are already anticipating, preparing a vision and a concept of how we will be able to see the future of the future. It will be air traffic. This is what our project will be”, stated Marcos Resende, director of technology at Atech.

 

By Xiu Ying via The Rio Times

 

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Brazil stimulates academia and business link in emerging tech initiative

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The Brazilian government has launched a tender to find projects based on emerging technologies as the latest stage of a project aimed at bridging the business and academic worlds.

The program, dubbed TechD, is a public-private partnership with funding of 18 million reais ($4.6 million). The latest stage of the program is looking for startups, incubated projects, IT companies or consortiums and research groups focused on emerging technologies to participate.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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BRICS bank to invest in infrastructure projects in Brazil

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Investment worth $621 million will be provided by BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) to Brazil, according to the Institute for Applied Economic Research (Ipea).

It said the bank has approved Brazilian projects on renewable energy, road building, railway construction, sanitation, telecommunications and an oil refinery. NDB has also plans to launch its Americas Regional Office in Brazil.

 

Via RT

 

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FIRPTA TAX PLANNING AND COMPLIANCE AFTER TAX REFORM

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We are pleased to announce that Jack will be speaking in the upcoming GRC Educators live webinar, “FIRPTA Tax Planning And Compliance After Tax Reform” scheduled for Monday, April 22, 2019 at 12:00pm EST.

 

The program will provide participants with the U.S. federal income, estate, and gift tax implications and planning techniques to properly advise their foreign investor clients on how to best structure their U.S. real property investments under the new tax rules of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

 

Advising foreign real property investors requires tax and other professionals involved with foreign real property investors to understand the U.S. tax reporting and withholding requirements to best advice their clients and provide investment structuring options.

 

The new tax law did not change the existing liability and withholding requirements on the disposition of U.S. real property interests but did affect change in possible FIRPTA investment structures because of the lowered withholding tax rate on capital gains and liquidating distributions paid by REITs. There are additional Net Operating Loss and interest expense limitation rules as well as depreciation rule changes under the new tax law. Also, the use of a blocker corporation may likely be subject to Base Erosion Tax (BEAT) on interest payments made to or accrued by blocker corporations to its related foreign lender.

 

Additionally, participants will be exposed to the use of offshore common law and civil law wealth transfer structures to invest in U.S. real property and the U.S. tax implications and reporting requirements of said structures investing in U.S. real property.

 

Areas Covered

 

·    Overview of tax rules that apply to foreign investors in U.S. real estate

·    U.S. income, estate, and gift tax

·     Income tax residency and estate and gift tax residency rules

·      FIRPTA and withholding requirements

·    Treaty application

·    A typical structure of blocker corporation for foreign persons or corporations to hold U.S. real property assets

·    Changes in TCJA tax reform that will specifically impact income from owning or disposing of U.S. real property

·        Corporate rate reduction and FIRPTA withholding rates

·      Treatment of REITs

·        Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT)

·       Depreciation changes

·        New NOL carryforward rules

·       Planning opportunities through entity selection or change

 

After the presentation, there will be a live question and answer session.

 

We do hope you will join us. Form more information or to register:

 

Go to: https://www.grceducators.com/FIRPTA-TAX-PLANNING-AND-COMPLIANCE-AFTER-TAX-REFORM

 

Or call (704) 870-0321 / +00 1 704 870 0321

Ask for FIRPTA Tax Planning And Compliance After Tax Reform on 22-Apr-2019

CODE: Jack-0001

Angola Cables Data Centre In Brazil Is Now Live

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Telecommunications company Angola Cables has announced the opening of its carrier-neutral data centre, Angonap Fortaleza in Fortaleza, Brazil.

The completed facility is now open for business and offers scalability, continuous connectivity, host and cloud services for local and external entities.

The facility is a primary interconnection point for the region, which will host Angola Cables’ two newest intercontinental submarine cables, SACS (South Atlantic Cable System) and Monet.

 

By Abigail Opiah via Data Economy

 

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Brazil Creates a Latin American Record in Bitcoin Trade

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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The craze for cryptocurrencies has reached an all-time high in South American countries, particularly Brazil. The recorded trading volume in the country surpassed 100 thousand Bitcoins last week – a new Latin American record, according to data from the CoinTrader Monitor, a tool that analyzes and monitors Bitcoin prices in Brazil.

According to the site’s index, cryptocurrency exchanges mediated by NegocieCoins and TemBTC contributed the most to this record. Exchanges made through Bitcoin Market, Bitcoin Trade, BitBlue, bTCBolsa, 3xBit, and BitCambio also played a part, facilitating trades of over 100 BTCs in a period of 24 hours.

 

By Richard Mann via The Rio Times

 

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RPT-China could agree to import more Brazilian meat from next month -ambassador

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BRASILIA, April 16 (Reuters) – China could agree to allow more Brazilian meat imports following high-level talks set for May, the Chinese ambassador to Brazil told Reuters on Monday.

Yang Wanming declined to comment on how many meat processing plants could be approved to export to China but said the issue would be discussed when Brazil Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias travels to China in May.

 

By Jake Spring via Reuters

 

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Brazilian Startup JaUbra Goes Where Uber Drivers Panic

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SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – When Alvimar da Silva realized Uber did not reach some of the more dangerous, far-flung areas of São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, he saw an opportunity: If the popular ride-sharing service did not go there, he would.

 

After six months of driving for the US application in the gridlocked city, da Silva launched in 2017 his own rival service JaUbra in the sprawling northern district of Brasilândia.

 

By Richard Mann via The Rio Times

 

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Workers in Rio Find 30,000 Artifacts Dating Back to Brazil’s Empire

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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – While working to renovate Rio de Janeiro’s zoo, workers found historical artifacts dating back to Brazil’s imperial past at the Quinta da Boa Vista park, in the northern part of the city.

 

Classified as an ‘archaeological treasure’ by Rio’s city government, the more than 30,000 items found are believed to be from the beginning of the 19th century to the first years of the 20th century.

 

By Lise Alves via The Rio Times

 

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Brazil economy minister confident on one trillion reais pension reform

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(Reuters) – Brazilian Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said on Wednesday he is “optimistic” that Congress will pass a pension reform bill that will generate savings of 1 trillion reais ($261.68 billion) over 10 years, in line with the government’s ambitious proposal.

 

Guedes is also confident Brazil will exceed its 2019 privatization goal of raising $20 billion from the sale of public assets by as much as 40 percent, he told a conference in New York, without giving any detail on which sectors or assets.

 

By Jamie McGeever via Reuters

 

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Brazil’s iFood Makes Multimillion-Dollar Investment In AI

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One of Brazil’s best-funded startups, iFood is making a multimillion-dollar investment in artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its offerings.

The Sao Paulo-based food delivery company will plough $20m into a new AI “academy”, which will be focusing on research in machine learning, deep learning, behavioral science and logistics efficiency.

 

By Angelica Mari via Forbes

 

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Brazil is back: Brasileiros lead foreign investment in South Florida homes in 2018

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Miami real estate agents have one reason to be happy – Brazilian buyers are back as a dominant buyer pool in South Florida, amid an increase in foreign investment.

Political turmoil in Brazil and a strong dollar have kept buyers away from South Florida in recent years – until now. Brazil ranked as the top country buying South Florida homes in 2018, according to a new report from the Miami Association of Realtors.

 

By Katherine Kallergis via The Real Deal

 

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IT investments in Brazil surpass world average

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Brazil has seen a return to growth in IT investments in 2018 with numbers surpassing global average spend, according to data released by the Brazilian Association of Software Companies (ABES) and IDC.

IT spending for 2018 in Brazil went up 9.8 percent, reaching $47 billion, according to the research. This compares to the initial predictions of 4.1 percent growth for that market and average global spending of 6.7 percent.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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Brazil Hedge Fund Bull Keeps Her Cool By Ignoring the Turmoil in Pension Reform

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All the tensions that have rattled Brazil traders over the past few weeks have done nothing to shake Teresa Barger’s optimism over the country.

The chief executive officer and co-founder of the $2.6 billion Cartica Management LLC hedge fund is sticking to her “very bullish” views on Brazil, confident that growth in Latin America’s largest economy will start to pick up and that a planned overhaul of the nation’s pension system will be approved. That means she avoids watching the developments too closely, sidestepping the jitters that come with it.

 

By Aline Oyamada via Bloomberg

 

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Brazil services sector PMI growth points to economy picking up

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BRASILIA, April 3 (Reuters) – Growth in Brazilian economic activity picked up to its strongest in over a year in March, driven by solid increases in domestic new orders across both the manufacturing and services sectors, IHS Markit Insight said on Wednesday.

The closely-watched purchasing managers indices (PMIs) for March, often seen as a leading indicator of overall economic growth, showed the sixth straight month of service sector growth and ninth consecutive month of rising manufacturing activity.

 

By Jamie McGeever via Nasdaq

 

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Project to recover degraded landscapes of cerrado

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Minister Tereza Cristina (Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply) launched this Wednesday (03) the Rural Landscapes Project, to preserve the Brazilian savannah, in an event with the participation of the German ambassador to Brazil, Georg Witschel, the interim director of the Bank (Bird) in Brazil, Doina Petrescu, and the president of the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA), João Martins.

With support from Bird and a partnership with the German Technical Cooperation Agency (GIZ), the Ministry of Science, Technology, Innovation and Communications (MCTI), through the National Institute of Space Research (INPE), Embrapa and the National Rural Learning Service (Senar), Rural Landscapes will train and provide technical and managerial assistance to 4,000 rural producers from nine states and the Federal District, focusing on the productive recovery of the cerrado and income generation. The initiative is coordinated by the Brazilian Forestry Service of the Ministry of Agriculture.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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Lemann-Backed Startup Looks to Tackle Brazil’s Health-Care Woes

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A potential solution to the ailments of modern-day health care may be burgeoning from inside one of Brazil’s biggest slums.

Startup firm Dr. Consulta is betting it can capitalize on demand for affordable, a la carte services for the increasing number of Brazilians who don’t have private health insurance. It’s proven to be an attractive proposition, luring investors including the billionaire co-founder of 3G Capital Inc., Jorge Paulo Lemann, and venture capital firms like Kaszek Ventures and Madrone Capital Partners.

 

By Vinicius Andrade via Bloomberg

 

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Brazil and Purdue launch new graduate fellowship program in agriculture

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University’s College of Agriculture and the Brazilian Ministry of Education through CAPES, a public foundation for the development of graduate education in Brazil, have signed an agreement to forge a new educational partnership.

Karen Plaut, the Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture at Purdue University, welcomed Mauro Rabelo, Brazilian national secretary for higher education; Connie McManus Pimentel, director of international relations for the Brazilian agency CAPES; and Luiz Valcov Loureiro, executive director of Fulbright Brazil, to Purdue on March 26. The delegation met with Suresh Garimella, executive vice president for research and partnerships, and College of Agriculture associate deans and department heads, and toured campus facilities. The visit culminated with a signing ceremony to establish a new CAPES-Purdue Agriculture Ph.D. Fellows program.

 

By Maureen Manier via Purdue University

 

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Ebanx enters Brazil

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This is a soft launch of EBANX new business and the product is available to selected customers. Over the next few months, the option will be available to all Brazilian companies that sell on the Internet and wish to use EBANX solutions to process online payments within Brazil. In addition, for the next year, local processing of EBANX is expected to begin in four other countries in Latin America.

 

Via Finextra

 

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Recovering a river in Brazil: Startup aims to breathe life into polluted area

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SAO PAULO — Traffic lines, honking cars  and a polluted Pinheiros River that lacks any sign of life are routine sights for the more than 1 million people who drive daily through the Pinheiros Expressway.

But this scenario is about to change. At least partially.

Legado das Águas (Legacy of the Waters), a startup owned by the Votorantim Group, was appointed last December by the Secretariat of the Environment of the State of Sao Paulo to join Projeto Pomar Urbano (Urban Orchard Project) to help recover the Pinheiros River’s riparian vegetation using only native species of the Atlantic Forest.

 

By Eugenia Álvares Affonso via Boston University News Service

 

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UPDATE 1-Brazil’s Rumo wins auction to operate freight railway; shares jump

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SAO PAULO/BRASILIA, March 28 (Reuters) – Brazilian logistics company Rumo SA on Thursday won an auction to build and operate a 1,537-kilometer freight railway for 30 years, with a bid of 2.7 billion reais ($694 million), according to the government.

Rumo Chief Executive Julio Fontana said that the Norte-Sul Railway would be used to transport primarily agricultural commodities, but would also ship some fuel and bauxite. The railway could be operational within 2 years, Fontana said.

 

By Aluisio Alves and Jake Spring

 

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China Says It’s Willing to Seek Trade, Investment Deals With Brazil

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China is open to negotiate trade and investment agreements with Brazil, including a double tax treaty, as part of a broader move to engage the Latin American commodities giant, Beijing’s new ambassador in Brasilia said.

“We’re willing to study, together with the Brazilian side, measures to facilitate and liberate trade and investments, negotiate agreements to protect investments and avoid double taxation,” Ambassador Yang Wanming wrote in response to questions from Bloomberg.

 

By Samy Adghirni via Bloomberg

 

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4th BLS Annual Conference

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Join Brazilian and U.S. law firms’ partners, representatives from the public sector,
law professors, economists, and business leaders to discuss economic, political and
legal issues about the country’s priorities on reforms, privatization, foreign
investments, cross-border transactions, and technology.

Brazil attempts to revive space technology program

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The Brazilian government signed a space technology safeguard agreement (TSA) with the US with hopes to revive its own activities in the sector and cash in on commercial opportunities.

The idea is that Brazil would be able to claim a share of the space launch business, estimated to generate nearly $300 billion a year, by allowing US companies to launch out of the Brazilian Air Force’s Alcantara Launch Center.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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Tickets to Brazil Are in High Demand as Visa Restrictions End

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Travelers are scrambling to get plane tickets to Brazil now that the country has erased the need for a visa.

Australian, Canadian, Japanese and American tourists will no longer need a visa starting June 17, 2019, and a new Kayak survey revealed searches for flights have shown double-digit increases. The highest increase was registered in Australia (36 percent), followed by the United States (31 percent), Canada (19 percent) and Japan (4 percent).

 

By Janeen Christoff via Travel Pulse

 

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Brazil energy firm Eneva announces secondary share offering

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RIO DE JANEIRO, March 27 (Reuters) – Brazilian energy firm Eneva SA announced a secondary offering of 49.97 million shares in a securities filing on Wednesday, confirming an earlier Reuters report.

The firm, which owns gas-fired power plants and natural gas exploration and production assets in northeastern Brazil, said shareholders Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Uniper Holding GmbH, Banco BTG Pactual SA, Banco Pine SA , and Dommo Austria GmbH, a unit of Brazil’s Dommo Energia SA, plan to sell shares in the offering.

 

By Gram Slattery via Reuters

 

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Project will strengthen good agricultural practices in the Cerrado

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On Wednesday (03), the Rural Landscapes Project will be launched in Brasilia, an initiative focused on environmental conservation and restoration and the promotion of low-carbon farming practices in selected basins in the Cerrado.

The launch will be hosted by the Agriculture and Livestock Confederation and will be attended by the Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, the German ambassador to Brazil, Georg Witschel, the interim director of the World Bank in the country, Doina Petrescu, and the president of CNA , João Martins.

 

By DATAGRO

 

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WORLD CHAMBERS CONGRESS

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O Consulado-Geral do Brasil em Nova York / Consulate General of Brazil in NYC tem o prazer de informar que a ICC World Chambers Federation organizará, em parceria com a CACB – Confederação das Associações Comerciais e Empresariais do Brasil, o 11 Congresso Mundial de Câmaras, no Rio de Janeiro, entre os dias 12 e 14 de Junho de 2019.
Estão previstos mais de 1200 participantes de 100 países e 80 palestrantes.

O material do congresso está disponível em https://bit.ly/2JJyffd

Para informações adicionais, entre em contato com juliana.kampf@cacb.org.br

Brazil sugar giant Raizen raises $233 mln, agrees $500 mln credit line

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SAO PAULO, March 25 (Reuters) – Brazil’s Raízen Energia SA, the world’s largest sugar maker, raised 900 million reais ($233 million) using Agribusiness Receivables Certificates (CRA), the company’s chief financial officer told Reuters on Monday.

Guilherme Cerqueira, the CFO, said the company initially expected to earn 750 million reais from the operation but raised more due to demand, which exceeded expectations by more than double.

 

By Roberto Samora via Reuters

 

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Brazil overtakes China in consumer sentiment, according to Credit Suisse survey

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Brazil has just overtaken China in terms of consumer sentiment, as the world’s second-largest economy slows down and spending intention on big ticket items decline, according to a Credit Suisse survey released Monday.

Speaking to CNBC at the Credit Suisse Asian Investment Conference in Hong Kong on Monday, Eugene Klerk, the bank’s managing director of global thematic research said China showed weaker readings in spending intentions compared to Brazil and India.

 

By Shirley Tay via CNBC

 

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Brazil and Chile want to bring Mercosur and Pacific Alliance closer together

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Brazil and Chile promise to intensify the rapprochement between Mercosur (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, as Venezuela is temporarily suspended) and the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico and Peru) to a free trade area , informs the “Agência Brasil”. From July, Brazil will hold the presidency-pro tempore of Mercosur and Chile will be at the forefront of the Pacific Alliance.

In Santiago, on the last day of the visit to Chile, President Jair Bolsonaro and Chilean President Sebastián Piñera ratified on Saturday (23) the terms of the free trade agreement between the two trade blocs.

 

By DATAGRO

 

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Amazon kicks off Alexa trial in Brazil

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Amazon is taking its first steps towards evolving its artificial intelligence-enabled voice assistant Alexa in Brazil.

The company said it was “excited to bring Alexa to Brazil” and that it will be asking some of its customers “to help refine her capabilities over the coming months.”

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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Brazil to present plan to overhaul natural gas sector by June: minister

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BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque said on Thursday that the government will present a program for overhauling the natural gas sector by June, a move aimed at lowering energy costs in the country.

The program will be called the “New Gas Market” and is separate from the “Gas for Growth” program pursued under previous President Michel Temer, Albuquerque told reporters in a briefing.

 

By Jake Spring via Reuters

 

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Brazil Starts Mulling Key Rate Cut Under New Bank President

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Brazil’s central bank held its benchmark interest rate at an all-time low in the first meeting under its new boss and signaled it could lower borrowing costs in the future if growth continues to disappoint.

The bank’s board on Wednesday kept the Selic rate unchanged at 6.50 percent for the eighth straight meeting in an announcement expected by all 39 economists in a Bloomberg survey. It was the first monetary policy decision under Roberto Campos Neto, who was sworn in as head of the monetary authority earlier this month.

Brazil Expects Petrobras Reserves Payout Above $18 Billion

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Petrobras is expected to receive more than $18 billion from a mixture of government and private sources as payment for oil reserves, people familiar with the matter said, potentially resolving a dispute that has dragged on since 2013.

Brazil’s government anticipates that companies seeking to join in deep-water oil projects would need to pay Petrobras more than $9 billion, said the people, who asked not to be named because the information hasn’t been made public. That will add to about $9 billion the state would be willing to pay Petrobras from its own coffers, according to the people.

 

By Sabrina Valle via Bloomberg

 

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After meeting between Bolsonaro and Trump, Brazil moves forward to export beef to the USA

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The meeting between presidents Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump brought some impacts to bilateral trade in agribusiness. The US government issued a joint statement saying it agreed to take new steps to free the purchase of fresh meat exported by Brazil.

According to a note, a technical visit will be scheduled by the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service to audit Brazil’s beef inspection system as soon as the Brazilian government has provided food safety documentation.

 

By DATAGRO

 

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Minister highlights sustainability of Brazilian agriculture in Washington

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In attending a panel on investment opportunities at Brazil Day in Washington, Minister Tereza Cristina (Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply) said on Monday (18) that Brazilian agriculture has the capacity to increase food production by 30% without destroying even one tree in all our territory. ” The statement was made to business owners and executives of large US companies in response to a question raised by Donna Hrinak, CEO of Boeing in Brazil, moderator of the event, about alleged environmental impacts caused by Brazilian agricultural production.

“The Brazilian farming industry will continue to grow without deforesting a single tree,” said the minister. “We have the capacity to include almost 30% more production without destroying even one tree, a tree stand all over our territory.”

 

By DATAGRO

 

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Qualcomm moves forward with growth strategy in Brazil

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Qualcomm is pressing ahead with its plans to develop the semiconductor industry in Brazil and exploit opportunities in the mobility and Internet of Things segments.

Along with Universal Scientific Industrial (USI) and Asus, the company has announced new Asus smartphones that utilize its system-in-package (SiP) technology developed in Brazil.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

 

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Brazil’s Progression Toward Greater Integration with the World Economy

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Following the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in mid-2016 and the inauguration of President Michel Temer, who had been Vice President, the new team responsible for Brazil’s international economic agenda worked diligently for greater integration of our country into the world economy. That has happened in many areas, including relations with international organizations, the domestic framework for officially supported export credits and trade policy.

With regard to relations with international organizations, the team has contributed to deepen Brazil´s participation in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the mandate of which focuses on the discussion and international consolidation of best practices in public policies. 

 

By Marcello Estevão via International Banker

 

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Brazil’s Bold Privatization Plan Put to Test With Auction of 12 Airports

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President Jair Bolsonaro’s market friendly agenda faces a key test on Friday with an airport auction that will serve as a gauge of investors’ appetite for the administration’s massive privatization plan.

The tender is expected to generate 3.5 billion reais ($910 million) in investments in the next 30 years. That figure includes a minimum initial fee of 219 million reais and a minimum investment of 1.48 billion reais in the next five years –starting on the sixth year of the license, operators will also pay the government a percentage of their gross revenue.

 

By Vinicius Andrade and Fabiola Moura via Bloomberg

 

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Developing Brazil’s Goldilocks Oil Wealth: It Will Be Better This Time

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What makes some oil plays more valuable than others? The answer: big discoveries in excellent reservoirs that are cheap to exploit. Few places on earth do all three. Brazil does, as I was reminded on a trip to Rio last month. Its pre-salt Santos basin fields, such as Lula and Libra, have these attributes in abundance.

The reservoirs in these giants lie at the “Goldilocks” depth – not too expensive to drill, but deep enough for oil to flow freely to surface. Individual wells in the exceptional pre-salt carbonate reservoirs can produce up to 50,000 barrels in a single day – a good Permian fracked well takes two months to do that. Many producing wells are choked because the subsea flow lines or platform just can’t cope with the sheer volumes. Nice work if you can get it.

 

By Simon Flowers and Wood Mackenzie via Forbes

 

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Brazil’s New Central Banker Seeks Formal Autonomy to Do His Job

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Brazil’s central bank would be better equipped to keep inflation low if its autonomy to decide on monetary policy were guaranteed by law, the bank’s new chief said as he was sworn in on Wednesday.

“It’s important to keep the recent gains obtained in monetary policy,” Roberto Campos Neto said, stressing that increased central bank credibility has been crucial for reining in inflation. “We believe that an autonomous central bank would be better prepared to consolidate these recent gains.”

 

By Rachel Gamarski via Bloomberg

 

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Brazil Agriculture Minister Expects Reopening of U.S. for Brazil Beef

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RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Tuesday, March 12th, Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture, Tereza Cristina, said that she was optimistic that talks to reopen the U.S. market for Brazil’s fresh beef will be successful after a nearly two year ban of beef imports coming from Brazil.

Cristina is part of the contingent accompanying Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on his visit to the United States next week.

 

By Nelson Belen, via The Rio Times

 

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Research proves economic efficiency of biogas in dairy farming

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The generation of electric energy and the production of biofertilizers from livestock wastes is already a reality in Brazilian cattle breeding. After some frustrated experiments in the 1970s and 1980s, growers who adopt a feedlot system, in which cattle are raised in large stables, started to generate the electricity consumed on the farm, and in some cases even sell the surplus distribution companies.

 

The adoption of technology is still low among dairy farmers, but researcher Marcelo Henrique Otenio, who coordinates studies on biodigesters at Embrapa Gado de Leite (MG), says that the use of biogas is booming in the sector and shows returns financial resources. “We have assembled a multidisciplinary research team from several institutions and our studies indicate that it is economically viable to use biodigesters in dairy farming for free stall production systems with more than eighty cows” , reveals Otenio.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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Brazil’s Sao Paulo state to offer tax incentives to automakers

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s Sao Paulo state said on Friday it would offer fresh tax incentives to automakers, weeks after Ford Motor Co said it would shut down a plant there with 3,000 employees and General Motors Co hinted it might do the same before backtracking.

Sao Paulo is the historical center of Brazil’s auto industry, which was one of the world’s five biggest until a recent downturn from which it is still recovering. It has been losing ground in recent years to other Brazilian states which have showered automakers with incentives.

 

By Aluisio Alves via Reuters

 

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With these numbers, it’s no surprise SoftBank is investing in Latin America

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After SoftBank announced its plans to launch a $5 billion innovation fund in Latin America, we reached out to the good folks at the Latin American Venture Capital Association (LAVCA) for some context, and what they told me only validates the reasoning behind SoftBank’s interest in the region. (In 2017, we reported on the growing interest in Latin America.)

Let’s start with some numbers. Venture funding in Latin American startups is up — way up — from previous years. Specifically, LAVCA’s data shows that VC funding more than doubled in 2017 to $1.14 billion compared to $500 million in 2016. While 2018 numbers haven’t been finalized, LAVCA is projecting another record year with venture investments topping $1.5 billion.

 

By Mary Ann Azevedo via Techcrunch

 

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Study highlights greater participation of Brazilian agriculture in the world scenario for the next ten years

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Gaining prominence in the domestic economy in recent years, Brazilian agribusiness should follow this trend of growth and increase its share in international trade for the next ten years, especially with sales of its main items such as soy, corn, sugar and meats. The conclusion is from the study “Outlook Fiesp 2028 – Projections for Brazilian Agribusiness”, prepared by the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (Fiesp).

According to the document, which was released by the entity today (07), considering a scenario of fiscal balance and the implementation of economic reforms, the Brazilian agricultural policy could be improved, for example, from the effective prioritization of rural insurance as a guarantee policy of income to the producer. This scenario would also greatly benefit the segments of animal proteins and more elaborate products from the expected income growth.

 

Via DATAGRO

 

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McDonald’s Brazil: Engaging With A Generation Z Workforce

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Having shifted from technology to human resources two decades ago, Marcelo Nóbrega is right at the point of convergence between the two areas as he enhances the management of a 50,000-strong Generation Z workforce in McDonald’s restaurants throughout Brazil.

Keeping up with innovation that enhances staff management and productivity is core to the HR director’s work, who joined Arcos Dorados, McDonald’s largest franchisee in the world, in 2014. In his role, Nóbrega is actively looking for innovative approaches to better interact with the workforce with technologies such as artificial intelligence high up on the agenda.

 

By Angelica Mari via Forbes

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Brazil Bounces Back With A Slew Of New Billionaires

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Brazil has been through the ringer. The country went from being one of the world’s best-performing emerging economies to one riddled with political instability and beset by one of the worst recessions. In 2014, Brazil reached a record high 65 members on Forbes’Billionaires List. Then the troubles began, and the ranks of Brazil’s superrich fell steadily to just 42 in 2018.

But Brazil has come roaring back—at least when it comes to the very wealthy. A whopping 18 new billionaires hail from the South American country this year, a number of whom have taken their companies public on the São Paulo stock exchange in the recent past. Altogether Forbes found 58 billionaires in Brazil this year worth a combined $175 billion.

 

By Anderson Antunes via Forbes

 

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Demand for digital driving licenses soars in Brazil

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Demand for digital driving licenses is soaring in Brazil since the introduction of the smartphone-based document last year, available to the country’s 60 million drivers.

According to Brazil’s federal government’s data processing agency (Serpro), the digital license is available countrywide since April, but uptake has increased by 85 percent due to a new remote validation functionality added to the app last month.

 

By Angelica Mari via ZD Net

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Brazil receives US$ 96 million for having reduced its deforestation

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27 February 2019, Panama City, Panama – Brazil just became the first country to receive financial resources from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for having successfully reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from deforestation in the past.

The payment from the GCF is based on results achieved by Brazil in the Amazon biome between 2014-2015, and which have been reported and validated by experts from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This is the essence of REDD+: a mechanism to reward countries for having reduced their deforestation.

 

By UNDP

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GREENSPOON MARDER APPOINTS PARTNER MYRNA MAYSONET AS CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER

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MEDIA CONTACT
Michelle Martinez Reyes, Chief Marketing Officer
954.333.4357   |   michelle.martinez.reyes@gmlaw.com

 

GREENSPOON MARDER APPOINTS PARTNER MYRNA MAYSONET AS CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER

 

Fort Lauderdale, FL – February 27, 2019 – Greenspoon Marder is pleased to announce the appointment of partner, Myrna Maysonet, as the Chief Diversity Officer. Ms. Maysonet joined Greenspoon Marder in 2000 and went on to become the first female partner. She has since served as a mentor to the firm’s diversity and even worked to provide same sex benefits a decade before it was considered to become a law.

 

“Greenspoon Marder is committed to taking big strides in diversity. Myrna has proven to be an integral part of those efforts over her 18 years with the firm,” comments Michael Marder, Co-Managing Director. “Our firm make-up is regularly changing and adding dynamics which allow us to better serve and connect with our clients. With Myrna’s leadership we plan to continue to diversify our ranks more and more each day,” comments Gerald Greenspoon, Co-Managing Director.

 

Ms. Maysonet is an advocate for LGBTQ and women’s rights and incorporates these values into her practice. She has covered these issues in a number of speaking engagements and panel discussions. Additionally, Ms. Maysonet is regularly featured on local, national and Hispanic networks including El Sentinel Orlando, Univision, Orlando Business Journal, South Florida Business Journal, Law360 and HR Magazine.

 

About Greenspoon Marder

Greenspoon Marder is a national full-service business law firm with more than 200 attorneys and 26 locations across the United States. Since our inception in 1981, our firm has been committed to providing excellent client service through our cross-disciplinary, client-team approach. Our mission is to understand the challenges that our clients face, build collaborative relationships, and craft creative solutions designed and executed with long-term strategic goals in mind. We serve Fortune 500, middle-market public and private companies, start-ups, emerging businesses, individuals and entrepreneurs nationwide. For more information, visit www.gmlaw.com.

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

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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

 

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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Minister Bento Albuquerque defends hybrid and fuel cell powered by ethanol

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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

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Trade sector grows 0.9% in January

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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

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

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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

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Next OPEC Headache Is Brazil’s Burgeoning Crude Production

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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

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Government announces R $ 6.8 billion for clean energy generation projects

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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

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

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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

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GREEN TITLES EMERGE AS ALTERNATIVE FINANCING FOR AGRICULTURE

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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

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Microsoft launches AI skills initiative in Brazil

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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

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Gremi Group’s January 2019 Newsletter

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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

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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

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

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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

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Brazil’s BTG Pactual taps BlackRock veteran for equity funds

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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Minister confirms international travel agenda to improve exports

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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

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

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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

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Carpooling Firm BlaBlaCar Readies Evolution In Brazil

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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Disruptive technologies change the face of the Brazilian financial market

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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

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Brazil mulls minimum retirement age of 65 for men and women

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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

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Insurtech Pitzi Reinvents Brazil’s Mobile Insurance Market

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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

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

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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

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Industry confidence rises in January

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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

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Electric scooter startup Grin merges with Brazil-based Yellow

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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

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Glencore nears $500 mln deal to buy iron ore from Brazil’s CSN – sources

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LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters) – Global trader Glencore is close to finalising a deal to make a $500 million payment to the mining arm of Brazil’s Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN) for iron ore cargoes to be delivered over five years, sources familiar with the matter said.

One source said Glencore would sign the deal no later than the first quarter.

By Julia Payne and Maytaal Angel via Reuters

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Why Brazil Must Build a (Fiscal) Wall

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Judging by the reaction of financial markets, the Brazilian economy started the year at high speed. The real is among the world’s best-performing currencies so far in 2019 and the main stock market index Ibovespa hit a string of record highs leading into last week, when it broke the 97,000-point mark. Future interest rates have fallen sharply.

Foreign investors are buying in as well. The premium demanded as compensation for the inherent risk of buying Brazilian bonds, the Credit Default Swap rate (CDS), that in September was above 310 basis points has fallen to around 180 basis points, a range close to that of emerging countries with an investment-grade seal.

By Otaviano Canuto

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Rubio: US should go big on Brazil

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(CNN) – On New Year’s Day, President Jair Bolsonaro was inaugurated in Brazil, ushering in a new era in Brazilian politics that marks a dramatic departure from the leftist, anti-American governments of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff. Our bilateral relationship improved under the administration of former President Michel Temer, and the new Bolsonaro government has already indicated it seeks an even closer security and economic relationship with the United States.

For the peace and stability of the region, it is crucial that the United States capitalize on this historic opportunity to bring closer together the two most populous nations in the Western Hemisphere.

By Marco Rubio via CNN

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Bolsonaro: reforms will put Brazil among the top 50 countries to do business with

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Speaking during the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, President Jair Bolsonaro said that his administration’s reform will put Brazil among the 50 best countries to do business in the world. He also defended more integration and economic openness and explained that he wants the country to simplify the lives of those who produce and create jobs.

By BrazilGovNews

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Bolsonaro make proposals and strengthens ties with other countries

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Symbolic for marking the first international trip of newly-elected president Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s participation in this year’s edition of the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland) brought concrete results. In addition to being the first Latin American leader to speak at the event’s opening ceremony, the Brazilian delegation led by Bolsonaro was able to build closer ties with other countries, strengthen trade relations and showcase opportunities Brazil offers investors and entrepreneurs.

In the opening address, the president explained to leaders from around the world that his reform agenda aims to put Brazil among the world’s 50 best countries to do business. He advocated for reforms that will improve public budget, make life easier for consumers and entrepreneurs in Brazil, and help the country grow sustainably.

By BrazilGovNews

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Brazilian TV news market to be shaken by launch of CNN Brazil

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RIO DE JANEIRO: With the launch of CNN Brazil, Latin America’s biggest TV market is set to be roiled by the entry of a powerful new player looking to challenge the dominance of current leader Globo News.

Its arrival, announced this month, comes at a high-voltage time for Brazil as it undergoes an abrupt swerve to the right under President Jair Bolsonaro, a pro-business ultraconservative who took office at the beginning of January.

By Channel News Asia

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Brazil’s Guedes seeks deep pension cuts to avoid Greece’s fate

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DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – An overhaul of Brazil’s pension system could save up to 1.3 trillion reais ($345 billion) over the next decade, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes told Reuters on Wednesday, aiming as much as two-thirds higher than the previous government’s failed effort.

In an interview during the World Economic Forum at the Swiss ski resort of Davos, Guedes underscored the enormous scale of a pension reform that investors consider the cornerstone of new right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro’s sweeping economic agenda.

By Mark Bendeich via Reuters

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In Trump’s Absence, Brazil’s New President Steals Spotlight at Davos

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Brazil’s newly-elected president Jair Bolsonaro ascended the world stage for the first time to present his vision for a “new Brazil” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

Absences by British and French heads of state, along with the abrupt cancellation of the U.S. delegation’s visit to the elite business conference just days earlier, thrust Brazil’s new leader into the forum’s spotlight. In his speech, Bolsonaro promised to root out corruption, privatize industry, and repair his country’s standing in the eyes of the international community.

By Robert Hackett via Fortune

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UPDATE 1-Brazil seeks to privatize, pave Trans-Amazonian Highway

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BRASILIA, Jan 22 (Reuters) – Brazil will add the Trans-Amazonian Highway to the list of projects for privatization, its infrastructure minister said on Tuesday, seeking new investment to pave a roadway that has already been blamed for deforestation.

The government also plans to sell to investors a concession to run BR-163, a key northern route for shipping Brazilian grains, adding it along with the Trans-Amazonian to a priority list for privatization at a meeting next month, Infrastructure Minister Tarcisio Freitas told Reuters in an interview.

By Jake Spring via CNBC

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Soybean trade hits record in Brazil in 2017/18

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Sales of Brazilian soybeans for the 2017/18 harvest reached 99% of production expected until the last day of January 18. The percentage is above the 94% recorded in the same period of the previous harvest and is also higher than the previous record of 98% observed in 2013 and 2015, highlight data from the DATAGRO Consulting.

“In addition to the supply being brought to an end, the expected fall in prices occurred in general, keeping producers’ sales interest loose,” says DATAGRO grain analyst Flávio Roberto de França Jr.

By DATAGRO

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Brazil Wants To Diversify Sales To China

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In a meeting on Thursday, Jan. 17th with Chinese Ambassador Yang Wanming and Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, they discussed possibilities for trade diversification between the two countries. According to negotiators, Guedes said he intends to close more bilateral partnerships, mainly in the area of technology, with the main destination of Brazilian goods. According to the Ministry of Economy, Guedes reaffirmed Brazil’s willingness to do business with as many countries as possible, without ideological bias. According to the ministry’s source, the orientation is in line with the speeches inaugurated by President Jair Bolsonaro in the National Congress and in the parliament of the Planalto Palace, on Jan. 1st.

By Brazil Monitor

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EMERGING MARKETS-Brazil’s Bovespa crosses 96,000; Latam currencies steady

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Jan 18 (Reuters) – Brazil’s benchmark stock index reached an all-time high on Friday on positive investor sentiment about the new government’s pension reform plans and U.S.-China trade talks, while Latin American currencies steadied against the U.S. dollar. The Bovespa, one of 2018’s top performing indexes across the globe, hit a record high, crossing the 96,000 mark as investors hoped the new government’s pension reforms plans may be revealed earlier than expected.

By Agamoni Ghosh via CNBC

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China boosts Brazilian exports increase

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The US $ 58.7 surplus recorded by Brazil last year is a result of increased imports from China, as well as increased international demand for Brazilian commodities. The data are from the Foreign Trade Indicator (Icomex) of January released today (17) by the Brazilian Institute of Economy of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Ibre-FGV).

By DATAGRO

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Brazil’s Banking Giant Bradesco Plans Artificial Intelligence Leap

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Brazil’s second-largest private bank Bradesco will ramp up its efforts around artificial intelligence (AI) to boost sales, improve customer experience and reduce operating costs in 2019.

The bank, which has a portfolio of over 71 million customers, has been working on a platform dubbed Bradesco Artificial Intelligence (BIA) over the last four years. BIA’s capabilities translate into an improved customer experience across the bank’s digital channels – especially the app, which today accounts for 60% of customer interactions with the bank.

By Angelica Mari via Forbes

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Brazilian Sugar-Cane Mogul Is Creating the Alipay of Brazil

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The Brazilian tycoon behind the world’s biggest sugar-cane operation is taking a page from billionaire Jack Ma’s playbook for his next project.

Cosan SA, the powerhouse controlled by 68-year-old Rubens Ometto, is launching a version of Alipay to process payments and money transfers through smartphones. It’s a bet that could save the conglomerate millions in fees and give it a foothold in Brazil’s booming fintech scene.

By Gerson Freitas Jr. and Felipe Marques via Bloomberg

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Market raises GDP growth forecast for 2019

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The financial market remains optimistic with its forecasts for economic growth in 2019. According to the latest edition of the Focus Bulletin, released by the Central Bank on Monday (January 14), analysts are predicting Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow 2.57% this year, up from the previous 2.53%.

By BrazilGovNews

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Demand for hydrated ethanol remains hot in the domestic market

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The marketing of hydrated ethanol continues to be heated in the domestic market. Biofuel sales totaled 858.11 million liters in the second half of December, an increase of 26.57% over the volume traded in the same period of 2017 (678.00 million liters), according to data from the Cana- of Sugar (UNICA).

Considering December sales, sales also increased, registering 1.79 billion liters, an increase of 25.26% over December 2017 (1.43 billion liters). “This volume, a record for a month in December, is due to the maintenance of biofuels’ competitiveness against gasoline in the domestic market. This is the beginning of the most advantageous year for ethanol in this decade “, points out UNICA.

By DATAGRO

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Brazil’s Outgoing Central Bank Chief Sees Strong Growth Ahead

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Brazil’s outgoing central bank President Ilan Goldfajn told Swiss newspaper Le Temps that conditions remain in place for strong economic growth, while he warned against inflated expectations under the country’s new populist government.

“The expectations are now very high in Brazil,” Goldfajn said in an interview with the French-language newspaper ahead of an address at the International Center for Monetary and Banking Studies scheduled for Tuesday in Geneva.

By Andy Hoffman via Bloomberg

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Brazil Economy Gaining Steam: ETFs in Focus

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Brazil stocks have been rallying since Bolsonaro’s presidential victory in October last year. The most popular Brazilian ETF, iShares MSCI Brazil ETF EWZ rose 13.3% in the fourth quarter of 2018. Brazil’s Bovespa index gained about 10.8% in the same time frame. Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in as Brazil’s president on Jan 1.

EWZ has continued its strong run this year by returning 12.5% in the year-to-date time frame (as of Jan 9). This indicates market participants faith in the newly elected president’s ambitious agenda.

By Zacks Equity Research via Nasdaq

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President Bolsonaro should boost Brazil’s entrepreneurial ecosystem

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In late October following a significant victory for Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil’s presidential elections, the stock market for Latin America’s largest country shot up. Financial markets reacted favorably to the news because Bolsonaro, a free-market proponent, promises to deliver broad economic reforms, fight corruption and work to reshape Brazil through a pro-business agenda. While some have dubbed him as a far-right “Trump of the Tropics” against a backdrop of many Brazilians feeling that government has failed them, the business outlook is extremely positive.

By Romero Rodrigues via TechCrunch

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Brazil government wants to save $270 billion with pension reform: paper

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Far-right Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s new government wants to save 1 trillion reais ($269.48 billion) over 10 years via pension reforms economists say are vital to undo the growing fiscal deficit, a Brazilian newspaper reported on Monday.

Bolsonaro, a former army captain who has surrounded himself with generals and liberal economists as top advisers, made pension reform a staple of his campaign. But he has given few details before his inauguration or as president.

By Reuters Staff via Reuters

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How Santander’s Brazil unit is driving growth with car loans

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SAO PAULO (Reuters) – At BM Multimarcas, a used-car dealer on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, owner Santel de Abreu Bernardo can show you jalopies that most big banks would not touch.

There is a faded blue 2003 Renault hatchback with 195,000 kilometers on the dial. And a Volkswagen Gol Turbo so old that it could vote.

But when he needs to seal a deal, Bernardo has a go-to option for financing: the Brazilian unit of Spain’s Banco Santander.

By Carolina Mandl via Reuters

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Brazil approves Boeing-Embraer partnership, committing to keep local jobs

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The Brazilian government on Thursday said it would allow a proposed tie-up between planemakers Embraer and Boeing to go forward, capping weeks of uncertainty in which President Jair Bolsonaro expressed hesitation.

The approval maintains the terms of the deal as previously proposed, with Embraer selling 80 percent of its commercial plane division, its most profitable, for $4.2 billion to Boeing, which will have total control of the new venture.

By CNBC Markets

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“Public bank presidents will correct credit market,” says Guedes

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On Monday, the presidents of public banks will begin their mission of reducing distortions in the Brazilian credit market and balancing the interest rates charged by financial institutions. The statement came from the Minister of Economy, Paulo Guedes, who participated in their inauguration ceremony in the Planalto Palace.

According to Guedes, interventions made by past governments in public banks have contributed to making credit cheaper for large companies and more expensive for the rest of the population, an imbalance which should be corrected by the new management.

By BrazilGovNews

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President sanctions law creating endowment funds

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President Jair Bolsonaro sanctioned a law on Monday (January 7) that allows the creation of endowment funds, as a way to encourage private donations to projects of public interest. With the decision, the areas of education, science, technology, research and innovation, culture, health, environment, social assistance and sport will be strengthened.

In practice, all money donated by individuals and private companies, along with the income received from their investment, will be passed on to institutions and projects of public interest, increasing the sustainability of important public policies.

By BrazilGovNews

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