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MercoPress, en Español

Montevideo, October 26th 2026 - 13:24 UTC

Economy

  • Wednesday, May 18th 2016 - 12:07 UTC

    Argentina forecasted to increase wheat area by 25% for a 15/16 million tons crop

    Argentina, the world’s 10th biggest wheat exporter, shipped 3.13 million tons of the grain in the first quarter of 2016 versus 1.53 million in the same 2015 period

    Argentine wheat exports more than doubled in the first quarter, government data showed, as farmers rushed to sell stockpiles ahead of an expected jump in plantings spurred by the open-market policies of new President Mauricio Macri. The surge in Argentine supply is hitting an oversaturated world market and putting downward pressure on wheat prices already near their lowest levels in six years.

  • Wednesday, May 18th 2016 - 11:32 UTC

    US economy good news: inflation reaches 1.1% and housing starts rise 6.6%

    Commerce Department figures showed housing starts rose by 6.6% in April to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.17 million units.

    US consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in three years in April as energy prices climbed, figures show. The Labor Department's Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% last month, the biggest one-month increase since February 2013.

  • Wednesday, May 18th 2016 - 10:54 UTC

    Chile celebrates best cruise season in seven years

    The milestone of the season was the return of Norwegian Cruise Line, with the Norwegian Sun, and 40 calls in Chilean ports and an estimated 100.000 visitors.

    Chile reports that this last cruise season (October 2015/April 2016), has been the best in seven years, according to the Southern Cone Ports Corporation, with a 47% increase in the number of vessel calls and 43% in landed passengers, compared to 2014/2015.

  • Wednesday, May 18th 2016 - 06:01 UTC

    Orthodox economist Goldfajn confirmed as Brazil's central bank governor

    Ilan Goldfajn, chief economist of Itau Unibanco Holding, will replace Alexandre Tombini as central bank governor. Senate must ratify Goldfajn's appointment.

    Brazil's interim government on Tuesday confirmed the lead economist of the country's largest private bank to head the central bank, in a further shift away from the interventionist policies that many blame for deep recession and near double-digit inflation.

  • Tuesday, May 17th 2016 - 11:00 UTC

    Brazil's economy contracts for fifteenth consecutive month

    Private economists consulted in the Central Bank's latest weekly survey expects Brazil's GDP to shrink by a further 3.86% this year.

    Brazil's economic activity contracted by 1.44% in the first quarter relative to October-December 2015 and 6.27% compared to the same three-month period of 2015, the Central Bank said Friday. The figures come from the Central Bank's Index of Economic Activity, or IBC-Br, an indicator used as a preview of the gross domestic product (GDP) number.

  • Tuesday, May 17th 2016 - 07:25 UTC

    Temer names a woman to head Brazil's giant development bank, BNDES

    Maria Silvia Bastos Marques, a career bureaucrat and onetime steel executive who worked on Rio de Janeiro’s Olympics preparations, will head BNDES

    Brazil’s interim President Michel Temer will replace the head of the government’s giant development bank with a female economist, following heavy criticism over his appointment of an all-male white cabinet.

  • Tuesday, May 17th 2016 - 06:23 UTC

    Falklands hopeful of improved relations with Argentina, Gilbert House tells BIMR conference

    Cherie Clifford, MLA Dr. Barry Elsby meet CPA Secretary General Akbar Khan at the States of Assembly in the island of Jersey

    Falkland Islands remains hopeful of improved relations with the new administration of Argentina and cooperation in the many areas of mutual interest such as fisheries and connectivity, but sovereignty of the Falklands is not for negotiation, reads the Gilbert House report to the 46th British Isles and Mediterranean Region Conference, which opened on Sunday in Jersey.

  • Monday, May 16th 2016 - 21:35 UTC

    Urban unemployment in Latin America to increase 7% this year, says ECLAC

    After six years without any increase, unemployment started growing in Latin America in 2015, going from 6% in 2014 to 6.5% last year.

    Urban unemployment in Latin America will hit 7% this year, growing 0.5 percent point from last year’s 6.5% rate, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said in a joint report — a drop linked to the region’s lower growth.

  • Monday, May 16th 2016 - 18:56 UTC

    The Falklands would be safer after Brexit

    UK’s liberation of the Falklands, which strengthened the credibility of British power worldwide for decades, did not benefit at all from membership of the EEC

    By Julian Thompson for The Telegraph (*)

    As the EU referendum campaign enters its final stages, the Remain camp is resorting to ever more desperate fear tactics to win the argument. The latest – and most ludicrous – proposition is that the future of UK dependent territories will be under threat if we leave. Without EU support, we are told, Argentina would perceive Britain as “weakened” and might invade the Falklands.

  • Monday, May 16th 2016 - 18:52 UTC

    April FAO Food Price Index 10% below a year ago; South America soy prospects less favorable

    Maize quotations increased the most, influenced by weaker US dollar and spill over from soaring prices in the vegetable oils complex

    The FAO Food Price Index (FFPI) averaged 151.8 points in April 2016, up 1.1 points (0.7 percent) from March, but almost 10 percent below its April 2015 level. A relatively strong rise in vegetable oil quotations coupled with a more modest gain in international prices of cereals more than offset a decline in dairy and sugar prices.