Economy

• Wednesday, February 3rd 2016 - 06:55 UTC

  Brazil factories and mine production plunges 8.3% in 2015, with little prospects of change in the short term

  

  Industrial output in Brazil fell for a seventh straight month in December, capping the worst year for manufacturers in more than a decade as they struggle with inflation, high interest rates and political uncertainty.

• Wednesday, February 3rd 2016 - 06:15 UTC

  Brazil airline shares soar as regulator admits opening to foreign capital

  

  Brazilian airline shares soared nearly 30% on Monday after a newspaper report said the government may scrap limits on foreign ownership of domestic airlines to attract investment to the struggling sector. President Dilma Rousseff may propose legislation giving her discretion to let foreign groups own as much as 100% of local airlines, up from 20%, Valor Econômico reported.

• Wednesday, February 3rd 2016 - 05:38 UTC

  BP reported its biggest annual lost and announced 7.000 job cuts

  

  BP slumped to its biggest annual loss last year and announced thousands more job cuts on Tuesday, showing that even one of the nimblest oil producers is struggling in the worst market downturn in over a decade.

• Tuesday, February 2nd 2016 - 12:07 UTC

  Havana Club rum war: Bacardi appeals US decision to let Cuba have the trademark

  

  Bacardi filed suit on Monday against the United States demanding an explanation of its decision to let Cuba sell Havana Club rum in the United States once the U.S. trade embargo against the Castro brothers' island is lifted.

• Tuesday, February 2nd 2016 - 11:59 UTC

  FIFA puts Conmebol and Concacaf funding 'on hold' given 'current proceedings'

  

  FIFA has cut off funding to the corruption-hit confederations for football in the Americas, the global football body said on Monday, in a move which could cause future cash flow problems for the two organizations.

• Tuesday, February 2nd 2016 - 08:07 UTC

  Magallanes region with second lowest unemployment in Chile

  

  Employment in Magallanes Region, extreme south of Chile remains strong according to the latest data released by the Chilean stats office, INE, which covers the fourth quarter of 2015 (October/December). While the national unemployment average stands at 5.8%, Magallanes figures with 2.6 percentage points below.

• Tuesday, February 2nd 2016 - 07:47 UTC

  Argentina fish landings down 4,2% last year, but squid was down 25%

  

  Fish landings in Argentina totaled 752,359.1 tons in 2015, which represents 4.2% less than the previous year, according to the latest from the National Under secretariat of Fisheries. Among the main species of commercial importance, Illex squid (Illex argentinus) led the decline with a drop of 25%, with landings amounting 126,531.4 tons until 30 December 2015.

• Monday, February 1st 2016 - 09:36 UTC

  China's manufacturing contracts for sixth month running in January

  

  Activity in China's manufacturing sector contracted for the sixth month in a row in January - and hit its lowest level since 2012. According to the government's latest factory survey, the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) showed a reading of 49.4 for the month compared to December's reading of 49.7.

• Monday, February 1st 2016 - 06:22 UTC

  Venezuelan lobbying for oil production reduction: tour begins Monday in Russia

  

  Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino will visit Russia, Qatar, Iran and Saudi Arabia on a tour of OPEC and non-OPEC countries intended to drum up support for action to stem the tumble in crude prices.

• Monday, February 1st 2016 - 05:48 UTC

  Chile to provide gas to Argentina in winter months; Enap and YPF will increase production in Magallanes

  

  The government of Chile will be selling energy-short Argentina 5.5 million cubic feet of natural gas a day starting in May, providing also 200 MW of electricity through the interconnection system between both countries. Chile also committed to invest 200 million dollars in the Incremental Project of the Magallanes Area to boost hydrocarbon production.