Argentina

• Thursday, February 15th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Slow beginning for Argentine squid season

  

  Argentine short fin squid (Illex argentinus) catches within the Argentine EEZ since the start of the season on February 1 are rather erratic and not very encouraging. Until last week only eight jiggers were operating in the area reports Pesca & Puertos website.

• Thursday, February 15th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Buenos Aires province licenses 50 fishing vessels

  A total 50 vessels, less than 28 meters long, for the first time have been licensed to catch off the bay of Samborombón, an area the province of Buenos Aires government claims to be under its jurisdiction based on the Uruguay/Argentina River Plate maritime agreement.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina: Hake landings the lowest in the last four years

  

  From 1 to 31 January, 15,780.7 tonnes of common hake (Merluccius hubbsi) were landed, and is the lowest number registered since 2003, according to the Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Food Secretariat (SAGPyA) statistics. Last year, during the same month, landings of this species totalled 21,281.3 tonnes, while the average output registered in January during the last four years was about 23,000 tonnes.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentine banks switch to Europe

  

  US financial and anti-money laundering regulations have increased the cost of doing business with US banks to such an extent that Latin American businesses are turning to European financial institutions, Argentina's central bank chief said yesterday.

• Wednesday, February 14th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Fiat and India's Tata to build light trucks in Argentina

  

  Fiat and Tata announced in Milan, Italy the expansion of their strategic co-operation with their first industrial project outside India. Fiat will build a Tata bakkie (with Fiat badges) at its plant in Córdoba, Argentina, under an agreement that followed a feasibility study started in July 2006.

• Monday, February 12th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Buenos Aires “invaded” by 10.000 visitors in six cruises

  

  Three major cruise vessels with 10.000 tourists called in Buenos Aires over the weekend signaling a peak for the current season.

• Monday, February 12th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Asian fungi detected in Argentina soybean cultivation

  

  Argentina detected the presence of dangerous Asian fungi in soybean cultivations in the province of Santa Fe the second oilseed producing area of the country, reported the Agriculture Health and Quality National Service, SENASA.

• Monday, February 12th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  WTO praises Argentina but warns about inflation

  

  Argentina has successfully emerged from one of the worst recessions in its history, and the economy has been growing at a fast pace since 2003, according to a World Trade Organization Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Argentina released this week.

• Friday, February 9th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina's January basic food basket index up 2.95%

  Argentina's basic food basket consumed by the average family jumped 2.59% last January over December, which is more than double the official consumer prices index for the first month of 2007.

• Friday, February 9th 2007 - 20:00 UTC

  Argentina's unemployment drops below two digits

  Unemployment in Argentina for the first time in thirteen years dropped below two digits to 8.7% in the last quarter of 2006 according to Senator and First Lady Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner currently visiting France.