Stories for 2008

Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Brazil trade surplus rapidly shrinking by flood of imports

Brazil's trade surplus shrank to 882 million US dollars in February, less than one third of the same month a year ago 2.9 billion US dollars, according to the country's Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade.
Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Aircraft remains trawled in S. Atlantic date back to 1961

Remains of a military aircraft trawled by an Argentine fishing vessel 159 kilometers off Santa Cruz belong to an Argentine Navy North American SNJ-5C Texan that went down in 1961 and not to aircrafts involved in the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict as originally believed.
Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Uruguay hopes to begin offshore oil exploration next year

Uruguay will open its continental platform for oil exploration in 2009 following on encouraging seismic surveys of the area, said this week incoming Minister of Industry and Energy Daniel Martinez.
Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
“Severe production deficit” forecasted for soybean

Global 2007-08 soybean harvests will total 221.33 million tons, below forecast consumption of 239.49 million tons, Hamburg-based oilseeds analysts Oil World estimates. This compares to 2006/07 output of 237.79 million tons and consumption of 225.34 million tons.
Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Chavez support plummets but opposition still under

Support for Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez government has fallen to its lowest level since 2003, according to a new public opinion poll still reflecting damage from a stinging referendum vote defeat last December.
Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Fearing inflation Beijing raises banks' reserve ratio

China's Central Bank increased the amount of money commercial banks must keep in reserve just hours after Premier Wen Jiabao warned inflation was a top concern. The People's Bank of China said in a statement the bank reserve ratio would rise half a percentage point to 15.5% from March 25, in yet another bid to implement tight monetary policies and cool the economy.
Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Chilean main banker cautions on low US dollar speculation

Chile's Central Bank (BC) president Jose De Gregorio cautioned this week against speculation on the low US dollar, warning that, when the currency begins to regain value, such actions could cause significant financial losses.
Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Credit crisis could “wipe” 800 billion from financial system

The mounting global credit crisis could develop into a financial “contagion” and could wipe 800 billion US dollars of value from the books of US and global financial institutions, an official of the International Monetary Fund said.
Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Russia's Gazprom to develop Bolivia's top natural gas deposits

The world's largest gas company, Russia's Gazprom and Bolivia's government owned oil corporation YPFB signed this week in La Paz an accord to explore for gas in three of the country's southern fields.
Thursday, March 20th 2008 - 21:00 UTC
Brazil offering frigates and subs to Middle East

Encouraged by Brazil's resurgent economy, ship builders are making a strong bid to enter the naval market in the region with an array of weaponry including submarines. A leader in naval technology, Rio-based, Emgepron (Empressa Gerencial De Projetos Navais) is displaying its products at the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition Conference (Dimdex 2008).