Economy

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 15:46 UTC

  Expected bumper crop in US makes corn prices suffer its biggest fall in 15 years

  

  The price of corn suffered its biggest fall for 15 years on Thursday, prompting speculation that the high cost of food may start to ease. Corn prices dropped 10% after a US Department of Agriculture report that farmers are sowing unexpectedly large amounts of the grain.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 15:31 UTC

  EU and Mercosur resume ‘formal’ trade negotiations next week

  

  European Union and Mercosur delegates are scheduled to meet next week in Brussels for another round of negotiations with the purpose of reaching a trade agreement.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 13:04 UTC

  Renault plans to increase car production in Argentina by 60%

  

  French auto maker Renault has plans to invest 400 million Pesos (100 million US dollars) to produce a new model geared towards the Mercosur market, Argentina's industry minister Debora Giorgi announced this week.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 12:51 UTC

  Argentina is promoting the idea of an OPEC-like for lithium

  

  Argentina is promoting the idea of an OPEC-like cartel for itself, Bolivia and Chile, which together control 85% of the world's reserves of lithium, a key component in electric car batteries.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 07:04 UTC

  Setback for Argentina in New York court defaulted sovereign bonds case

  

  Argentina suffered a setback over its US$100 billion debt default in 2002 when New York's highest court said the country should keep paying interest on some bonds even after they mature or investors demand their principal back early.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:59 UTC

  Qatargas will provide Argentina with LNG on a 20 year supply agreement

  

  Qatar’s leading corporation Qatargas has signed an agreement with Argentina’s government owned oil and gas company, ENARSA for the long-term supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:39 UTC

  Philip Morris launches legal action against Australia; similar to Uruguayan case

  

  Tobacco giant Philip Morris International launched legal action this week against the Australian government over the country's plans to strip company logos from cigarette packages and replace them with grisly images of cancerous mouths, sickly children and bulging, blinded eyes.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:29 UTC

  Australian MPs plant to limit purchase of prime farmland by foreigners

  

  Australian lawmakers are demanding a review of foreign investment rules to stop foreign mining companies, including those from China, buying up prime farmland.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:23 UTC

  EU farm budget frozen for next seven years and conditioned to ‘greening’

  

  The European Union has published its long-awaited budget, which will see spending on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) frozen for the next seven years and make 30% of direct support conditional on ‘greening’.

• Friday, July 1st 2011 - 06:20 UTC

  EU paymasters reject point blank proposal for a 5% budget hike

  

  The European Commission’s request for a 5% hike in member states’ contributions in the next EU budget met immediate resistance from big countries such as Germany, France and Britain yesterday.