Economy

• Friday, April 12th 2013 - 06:19 UTC

  Dairy produce push FAO food price index one percent higher in March

  

  The FAO Food Price Index (FPI) crept higher by one percent in March compared with a month before, driven mainly by an 11% increase in dairy. Dairy products carry a 17% weight among the various commodity prices included in the calculation of the overall FPI.

• Thursday, April 11th 2013 - 06:55 UTC

  Some Fed members want to close the bond-purchase program ‘relatively soon’

  

  The US Federal Reserve could slow the pace of its bond-purchase program this year if the jobs market continues to improve, according to the minutes of the last FOMC meeting released Wednesday.

• Thursday, April 11th 2013 - 00:39 UTC

  YPF forced to import more fuel following fire in La Plata refinery

  

  Argentina’s state oil and gas company YPF CEO Miguel Galuccio announced that fuel production could drop 7% because of a fire at its refinery in La Plata. A return to full operations at the 180.000 bpd facility is expected in 30-45 days time.

• Thursday, April 11th 2013 - 00:35 UTC

  Falklands’ oil company completes 3D seismic program and is planning next drilling campaign

  

  Borders & Southern announced this week it has completed the 3D seismic program in the South Falkland Basin offshore the Falkland Islands. The group acquired 1,025 sq km of full fold seismic data collected by the ‘Ramform Challenger’, which will be processed by Petroleum Geo-Services.

• Wednesday, April 10th 2013 - 22:21 UTC

  Opposition candidate claims Argentina owes Venezuela 13billion dollars in oil contracts

  

  The opposition candidate in Venezuela’s next Sunday’s presidential again pounded on his country’s foreign policy and claimed that Argentina has a pending debt of 13 billion dollars arising from oil contracts.

• Wednesday, April 10th 2013 - 22:00 UTC

  Euro crisis and protectionism anticipate a weak year for world trade warns Lamy

  

  WTO Director General Pascal Lamy warned that 2013 could turn out even weaker than expected, especially because of risks from the Euro crisis as countries might try to restrict trade further in a desperate attempt to shore up domestic growth.

• Wednesday, April 10th 2013 - 08:05 UTC

  The Americas have an ‘unprecedented opportunity’ for sustained growth

  

  The countries of the Americas face an ‘unprecedented opportunity’ for sustained growth supported by a newfound sense of optimism, said the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza at the Palm Beach Strategic Forum.

• Wednesday, April 10th 2013 - 07:33 UTC

  Petrobras calls for clear rules to foster investment in shale production development

  

  Brazil’s oil and gas Petrobras said Argentina needs clear rules to foster investments if it wants to develop its unconventional oil and gas resources.

• Wednesday, April 10th 2013 - 07:28 UTC

  Uruguay leads in beef consumption: 60 kilos per capita per year

  

  Uruguay’s per capita consumption of meats last year reached 98 kilos which represents a 3.4% increase over 2011 and above the average of developed countries that stands at 78 kilos per person per year, according to stats released by the country’s National Meats Institute, INAC.

• Wednesday, April 10th 2013 - 07:24 UTC

  Fitch ratings downgrades China’s Yuan sovereign credit rating

  

  Fitch Ratings has downgraded China's sovereign credit rating, warning about a credit build-up in the economy that could threaten the recovery. The agency cited “underlying structural weaknesses” and a growing risk from shadow banking. The downgrade is for Yuan-denominated debt, not foreign currency debt.