Altos Hornos de Mexico SA (AHMSA) is considering a $100 million investment to build copper mines in Timna, Israel. The company estimates that mines in the region have sufficient reserves to allow production of 50,000 tons of copper a year for 10 years. Mines near Timna have been shut since 1985 but Israel plans to reopen them due to record high copper prices.
Category: Regions
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico: End to Cuts Signaled
Mexican central bankers dropped from their monthly policy statement a sentence saying the country’s interest rates should follow rising US rates, which some interpret as a signal they’re done raising rates after 12 increases in 14 months. The central bank has raised its benchmark lending rate to 9.75 percent to drive inflation down to its 3 percent annual target. Inflation in May was 4.6 percent. Expectations of lower interest rates have increased demand for Mexico’s fixed-rate bonds; the yield on Mexico’s peso-denominated note due in 2014 has been below the overnight lending rate since June 8.
Posted inDaily Brief
Digicel Expands
Telecommunications firm Digicel won a spectrum auction to operate a mobile network in Trinidad and Tobago, marking the company’s latest expansion. Last week Digicel acquired Cingular’s assets in the Caribbean and signed a roaming agreement with the US giant. Bermuda-based Digicel hopes to create a cohesive telecom network across the Caribbean and has already invested $600 million to expand operations into 15 countries.
Posted inDaily Brief
Álvaro Madero Rivero, President of Amafore, the Association of Mexican Pension Fund Managers,
is confirmed as a panelist at LatinFinance’s Inaugural Cumbre Financiera Mexicana, July 13-14, in Mexico City. Debate and discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by Mexico’s dynamic financial markets at this invitation-only event. View the full agenda and apply for an invitation at www.latinfinance.com/mexicana
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico: Export Growth Slows
Mexico’s exports rose 13 percent year-on-year in May to $18.31 billion on decelerating demand from the US, which buys 85 percent of Mexico’s exports. Exports were up 18 percent year-on-year in April. Mexico’s GDP grew 2.4 percent in the first quarter, down from 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Posted inDaily Brief
Carlos Guimarães, Private Sector Coordinator, Inter-American Development Bank and Luis Videgaray, Director, Protego Asesores
are confirmed as panelists at LatinFinance’s Inaugural Cumbre Financiera Mexicana, July 13-14, in Mexico City. Debate and discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by Mexico’s dynamic financial markets at this invitation-only event. View the full agenda and apply for an invitation at www.latinfinance.com/mexicana
Posted inDaily Brief
Pemex Suspends Contracts
Petroleos Mexicanos, Mexico’s state-run oil company, has suspended drilling contracts with private companies at the request of a congressional auditor. Pemex Chief Financial Officer Juan Jose Suarez said the auditor requested the contracts be suspended until Congress can pass legislation specifically allowing such deals.
Posted inDaily Brief
Digicel Buys Cingular Unit
US-based Cingular Wireless has agreed to sell its Caribbean operations to Bermuda-based Digicel Group, in a deal that will expand the company’s network to Anguilla, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda, and Dominica. Digicel promises to create a “seamless pan-Caribbean telecommunications network,” and announced a roaming agreement with Cingular. The transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in four to six months.
Posted inDaily Brief
Mexico: Retail Sales Rise
Mexican retail sales rose unexpectedly to 8.9 percent year-on-year in April, more than double the 4.4 percent rise in March. Mexico’s central bank has raised its benchmark interest rate 12 of the last 15 months to 9.75 percent. The country’s inflation rate was 3.4 percent in May, the lowest rate since the bank began calculating the index in 1983.
Posted inDaily Brief
Ecuador Plans Swap
Ecuador plans to swap bonds maturing in a year or less for new securities due in 2012 and may seek to renegotiate all its debt to cut borrowing costs. Standard & Poor’s yesterday reduced Ecuador’s credit rating one level to CCC+, the lowest in South America, on concern the country may have difficulty refinancing domestic debt and luring international investors. More than $800 million of Ecuador’s sovereign debt comes due this year.