Brazil

• Friday, January 5th 2018 - 10:00 UTC

  Controversy in Brazil for self imposed ban on sea food exports to Europe

  

  The Brazilian aquaculture association Peixe BR criticized the temporary suspension of fish and shellfish exports to the European Union (EU) self-imposed by the Brazilian government. The entity which represents more than half of the Brazilian production of farmed fish argued that “without doubt, this is bad news, but it can't be said that it is unexpected or that it has been a surprise for the Brazilian authorities”.

• Thursday, January 4th 2018 - 09:34 UTC

  Brazilian Industry minister steps down; he's expected to run for Congress

  

  Brazilian Industry Minister Marcos Pereira resigned on Wednesday, becoming the third cabinet minister to quit in a month.

• Thursday, January 4th 2018 - 09:18 UTC

  Petrobras agrees to pay US$ 2.95bn to settle class action suit in New York

  

  Petrobras has agreed to pay US$2.95 billion to settle a class action suit in New York brought on behalf of investors harmed by a huge corruption scandal at the Brazilian state oil giant, the company said on Wednesday.

• Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 10:33 UTC

  Private operators take over Brazil's Fortaleza and Porto Alegre airports

  

  Fraport Brasil (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fraport AG) started operations at Fortaleza’s Pinto Martins International Airport (FOR) and Porto Alegre’s Salgado Filho International Airport (POA).

• Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 10:12 UTC

  Brazil finished 2017 with a record trade surplus of US$ 67bn

  

  Brazil's road to economic recovery has passed another milestone with official data showing on Tuesday that the country finished 2017 with a record trade surplus 40.5% higher than in the previous year. The US$67 billion surplus was in line with market projections and within the US$65/70bn range forecast by the government.

• Wednesday, January 3rd 2018 - 06:55 UTC

  Brazil purchases Royal Navy's fleet flagship helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean

  

  Brazil has now confirmed the purchase of British helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, according to a report in the UKdefensejournal. “We were informed by a source in the Brazilian defense community that the vessel has been sold for £84 million. Roberto Lopes has informed us that the purchase of HMS Ocean by the Brazilian Navy was confirmed within the last week by Brazilian Defense Minister Raul Jungmann”.

• Sunday, December 31st 2017 - 10:32 UTC

  Temer paves the way for the privatization of jumbo power company Electrobras

  

  Brazilian President Michel Temer signed a measure that paves the way for the privatization of Eletrobras, Latin America’s largest power company, according to a government official.

• Sunday, December 31st 2017 - 10:27 UTC

  Brazil denies any hypothesis of credit rating downgrade

  

  “The government does not work on the hypothesis of a rating downgrade by the main credit rating agencies”, said Brazil's Treasury Secretary Ana Paula Vescovi during an interview to release the primary results of the Central Government.

• Sunday, December 31st 2017 - 06:26 UTC

  Lula's presidential ambition: on January 24 a Porto Alegre court will rule on his appeal

  

  Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will learn in January whether a prison sentence against him is upheld, officials said, potentially knocking him out of next year's presidential election. Lula was sentenced in July to 9.5 years behind bars after being convicted of corruption in Brazil's huge “Car Wash” graft scandal.

• Friday, December 29th 2017 - 10:06 UTC

  Brazil's main stock market, Ibovespa ends the year with a 26.85% increase

  

  Ibovespa, the benchmark stock market index in Brazil, ended the last trading session of the year with a 0.43% rise to 76,402.08 points amid a lack of negative political news and tracking stock markets abroad.