Economy

• Monday, August 20th 2012 - 06:41 UTC

  Argentina accuses EU before WTO for restriction imposed on bio-fuel imports

  

  Argentina has taken the first steps toward formally accusing the European Union of violating World Trade Organization rules in a dispute over restrictions on bio-fuels exports to the EU from the Mercosur member country.

• Monday, August 20th 2012 - 01:42 UTC

  Ecuador insists in Mercosur interest, but admits it will be a long process

  

  Ecuador has reiterated its intention of joining Mercosur but this needs to be compatible with the rules from the Community of Andean Nations, CAN, (to which it now belongs) said Ecuadorean ambassador Horacio Sevilla Borja.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 06:18 UTC

  Argentina manages a 7.3bn dollars surplus in first half of the year

  

  Argentina trade surplus in the first half of the year reached 7.336 billion dollars, up 26.8% over the same period a year ago, with exports reaching 39.647bn dollars and imports 32.311bn, according to the official stats office Indec.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 06:12 UTC

  First shipment from Mercosur latest member to the south: 14.000 tons of urea

  

  Venezuela dispatched on Friday a shipment of 14.000 tons of urea for Brazil and Uruguay, the first since becoming a full member of Mercosur, reported the official Venezuelan news agency.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 06:00 UTC

  Conflicting reports on Argentine performance, but economy rapidly slowing

  

  Argentina's economic activity remained flat in June compared to a year ago, according to the latest release from the country’s questioned stats office, Indec. The EMAE economic activity index, a close proxy for GDP published on Friday showed a 1.1% expansion in June versus May and 2.5% in the first half of the year.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:57 UTC

  Central bank announces first signs of Brazilian economy recovery

  

  Brazil's economy enjoys sound fundamentals for sustainable growth, with an economic expansion likely to pick up speed in the next few quarters, Central Bank President Alexandre Tombini said at a business conference Friday.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:50 UTC

  China’s (and the world) leading bank authorized to operate in Brazil

  

  One of the world’s leading banks, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has been authorised to operate in Brazil, indicates a Brazilian government decision published on Thursday in the official gazette.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:45 UTC

  Euro zone June trade surplus was the highest since 1999

  

  The Euro zone trade surplus hit 14.9bn Euros in June up from 200m Euros a year ago. The surplus was the highest since the European Union's statistics agency began collecting data in 1999.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 05:39 UTC

  First shipment of New Zealand lamb to Brazil, a market of “great potential”

  

  New Zealand's first branded lamb shipment to Brazil is scheduled to arrive at the port of Santos in the middle of next month and be available at 120 stores in Sao Paulo and to diners in restaurants and hotels throughout the country.

• Saturday, August 18th 2012 - 02:37 UTC

  In nine years of “Kirchner era” Argentina honoured 32 billion dollars in debts

  

  Argentina’s Central bank confirmed that during the “Kirchner era” the country paid 32 billion dollars in pending debts, “the centre piece of the policy to recover sovereignty by cutting indebtedness” and praised the decision to appeal to the bank’s international reserves to support such a policy.