Economy

• Thursday, September 6th 2012 - 03:30 UTC

  Brazil sold 1.25bn dollar global bonds due in 2013 at lowest borrowing cost ever

  

  Brazil on Wednesday sold 1.25 billion in dollar-denominated global bonds due in 2023, at the cheapest borrowing costs ever from foreign investors. High demand allowed the government to improve financing conditions by lowering the bond's yield spread over comparable US Treasury debt to 110 basis points from an initial 115 basis points.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2012 - 06:13 UTC

  Real estate sales in Buenos Aires City lose steam for eighth month running

  

  Real estate sales in Buenos Aires City dropped for the eighth month running in July and 27.6% over a year ago because of the US dollar clamp according to the monthly evolution index of sales documents from the Notaries College of the Argentine capital.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2012 - 05:47 UTC

  Soybeans reach record price in Chicago, past the threshold of 650 dollars/ton

  

  Soybean prices again climbed on Tuesday in Chicago reaching a historic record of 650.74 dollars the ton, boosted by investors’ purchases fearing limited supplies because of the worst drought in the US in the last five decades.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2012 - 05:40 UTC

  Brazil applies 25% tariff increase on 100 imported goods; another 100 list in the making

  

  The Brazilian government approved a 25% tariff increase on an additional list of 100 goods from outside Mercosur and at the same time announced the implementation of a monitoring scheme for those items’ prices in the domestic market to avoid unduly increases.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2012 - 05:34 UTC

  Several heavy players after Marfrig assets, which has to reduce debt

  

  Marfrig Alimentos SA, Brazil’s second-biggest food company, is attracting the interest of Blackstone Group LP and Tyson Foods Inc. for a plan to sell a stake, three people with direct knowledge of the talks said.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2012 - 01:07 UTC

  President Rousseff hints to further stimuli measures for manufacturing sector

  

  Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said her government would continue with the policy of reducing labour costs to favour companies and improve their competitiveness and hinted that new initiatives referred to power costs for industry could be in the pipeline.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2012 - 01:01 UTC

  Tax cuts and lower rates help record car sales in Brazil during August: 400.00 units

  

  Brazil car sales rose to a record 400,000 units in August as tax cuts and lower borrowing costs spur consumer spending. Fiat, the country’s biggest automaker, said that tax cuts that took effect in May and were extended last week through October spurred industry sales of cars and light vehicles last month.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2012 - 00:52 UTC

  Brazilian industrial production up 0.3% in July, but still unconvincing

  

  Brazilian industrial production rose a stronger-than-expected 0.3% in July from June, government statistics agency IBGE said on Tuesday. July was the second positive number following three straight months of declining output.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2012 - 00:40 UTC

  Moody’s lowers EU outlook to ‘negative’: fears big countries will prioritize their own debts

  

  Moody's has lowered its outlook for the European Union's AAA credit rating to “negative” and warned that the bloc's rating could be downgraded. The move reflected the negative outlook for the ratings of the EU key budget contributors.

• Wednesday, September 5th 2012 - 00:14 UTC

  EC regrets stances of “protectionism” and “populism” in some Mercosur members

  

  The president of the European Commission Jose Durao Barroso said on Tuesday that the EU 27 members still want to reach a free trade agreement with Mercosur, but warned that the “protectionist stances” from some of its members makes it difficult.