Cássio Casseb, former president of Banco do Brasil, will take the helm of Coinbra, a Brazilian trading company and affiliate of Louis Dreyfus. Coinbra trades oranges, soya and cotton and posted $1.6 billion in revenues in 2004. Casseb worked at Citibank and Bank Boston before taking over at Banco do Brasil.
Category: Paywall
Posted inDaily Brief
Chile Trade Surplus Widens
Chile’s trade surplus widened to $1.07 billion in April as copper prices surged to 16-year highs. Copper prices have climbed 24% in 12 months, spurred by demand in India and China, the world’s largest consumer of the metal. Chile’s overall exports rose 25% to $3.44 billion, while imports surged 36% to $2.37 billion.
Posted inDaily Brief
Meirelles Calm
Henrique Meirelles, president of the Central Bank of Brazil, says he is awaiting “with serenity and tranquility” a Supreme Court decision on whether to investigate allegations of financial irregularities against him. Meirelles said, “I have always lived according to the law and personal ethics. I see any type of investigation in a positive light.”
Posted inDaily Brief
Brazil Soy Exports Up
Brazil’s soy complex exports rose 12 percent in April to $925 million due to higher international soy prices and increased production in Brazil. The country’s overall agribusiness exports stood at $3.5 billion, a record-high result for the month of April and up 21 percent from a year earlier.
Posted inDaily Brief
Brazil: Growth Slows
Brazil’s industrial output grew 1.7 percent in March, the slowest pace in 17 months, as rising interest rates have cooled demand and a stronger currency has hurt exports in some industries. Brazil’s central bank has lifted the benchmark lending rate eight times since September to rein in inflation. The International Monetary Fund said in April that it expects Brazil’s economy to expand 3.7 percent this year.
Posted inDaily Brief
Cutrale Sees Rising Prices
Jose Luis Cutrale, whose family controls Sucocitrico Cutrale, Brazil’s largest orange-juice producer, said wholesale prices will surge this year and may reach a six-year high as lower production in Florida cuts into global supplies. Cutrale predicted that the price of orange juice will rise in the next few months to as much as $1.10 a pound from 94.6 cents now.
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Gol Issues Shares
Brazil’s budget airline Gol Linhas Aareas Inteligentes raised $241 million last week through an offering of primary and secondary shares. Shares were priced at $14.28. US investment bank Morgan Stanley, which coordinated the offering, exercised options on further shares during the offering.
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Iusacell’s Creditors Want Payments
Creditors of Mexican cell phone operator Iusacell have asked for the accelerated payment of principal and interest of the company’s $350 million debt, due December 2006. Iusacell has not made any payments on its debt since June 2003 when the company was bought by Ricardo Salinas Pliego. Creditors also asked Iusacell for an early repayment of debt in January 2004.
Posted inDaily Brief
Lower Outlook on Codelco
Standard & Poor’s has revised its outlook to negative from stable on Chilean state copper company Codelco’s A+ local currency corporate credit rating. S&P lowered the outlook as a result of the “expected weakening of the company’s financial profile” due to Codelco’s ambitious expansion plans and high dividend distributions. At the same time, S&P confirmed Codelco’s local and A-grade foreign currency corporate credit ratings and maintained the stable outlook on the company’s foreign currency corporate rating.
Posted inDaily Brief
Codelco Boosts Investments
Chile’s state-owned copper company Codelco plans to boost investment 25 percent at its largest mine next year to expand output for China, the world’s biggest copper consumer and the company’s number one customer. Spending at Codelco’s northern division will rise to about $1 billion from $800 million this year, part of a plan to increase output almost 22 percent by the end of 2008. Copper prices currently stand at $1.44 a pound, more than double the 14-year low of $.60 a pound in November 2001.