Mercosur

• Thursday, November 16th 2017 - 19:09 UTC

  Petrobras shares plunge after disappointing third quarter earnings

  

  Shares of Brazil’s Petrobras plunged 7.8% on Tuesday a day after the state-controlled oil company reported disappointing third-quarter earnings. The company also announced that during October oil production remained stable but gas was down 1.5%

• Thursday, November 16th 2017 - 19:01 UTC

  October inflation in Argentina reaches 1.5% and 19,4% in ten months

  

  Argentina’s consumer prices rose 1.5% in October, government statistics agency Indec said on Tuesday, bringing 10-month inflation to 19.4%. It was the second month in a row that cumulative inflation for 2017 was above the upper band of the central bank’s target range for inflation, between 12% and 17% this year. Private sector economists expect inflation of 23% this year and 16% in 2018.

• Monday, November 13th 2017 - 08:43 UTC

  EU and Mercosur “very close” to reaching an accord, says top European official

  

  The European Union and Mercosur are close to concluding a free trade accord after decades of fitful talks, an EU official said. “We’re that close to having a new association and trade agreement between EU and Mercosur,” European Commissioner for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen said, holding his index finger and thumb just slightly apart.

• Friday, November 10th 2017 - 01:02 UTC

  Argentine inflation forecasted to end at 21% this year and 14.3% in 2018

  

  Argentina's annual core inflation forecast for the end of 2017 rose by 0.7 percentage point (pp) in November to 21%, according to a monthly survey conducted by the Argentine central bank. For 2018, analysts estimated a 14.3% annual inflation, from 14% in the previous survey.

• Friday, November 10th 2017 - 00:50 UTC

  No end to violent deaths in Brazil: seven people killed every sixty minutes in 2016

  

  The number of violent deaths registered during 2016 in Brazil reached 61,600, a 4.7% increase compared to the previous year. This works out to seven people murdered per hour, on average, throughout the country, according to data from the Brazilian Forum on Public Safety released this week.

• Wednesday, November 8th 2017 - 12:26 UTC

  Irish “grave concerns” about the beef industry with the EU/Mercosur trade deal

  

  Ireland's Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed has expressed “grave concerns” about the offer of a beef tariff rate quota in last month’s round of European Union/Mercosur discussions, which he said gives rise to potentially very serious consequences for the Irish and EU beef sector in particular.

• Wednesday, November 8th 2017 - 10:26 UTC

  Macri optimistic about reaching a Mercosur/EU trade deal by end of the year

  

  Argentine president Mauricio Macri who has made signing trade deals a priority, said he was optimistic that Mercosur, the trade bloc formed by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, would be able to conclude a free trade deal with the European Union by year-end despite differences over beef, ethanol and other agribusiness matters.

• Friday, October 27th 2017 - 08:38 UTC

  EU confirms commitment to reach trade accord with Mercosur by end of the year

  

  European Union leaders have agreed to press ahead with Mercosur talks and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker confirmed the bloc will “continue to do everything” to conclude a deal before the end of the year. “It's important,” Mr Juncker said. “We underestimate the importance of Mercosur for the European Union.”

• Thursday, October 19th 2017 - 07:39 UTC

  Mercosur/EU trade deal again faces French foot dragging with Irish support

  

  France will propose changing the European Commission’s mandate to negotiate a trade deal with Mercosur bloc to include food safety provisions, its envoy to Brazil said on this week.

• Tuesday, October 10th 2017 - 02:48 UTC

  Aerolineas Argentinas suspends flights to Venezuela because of security concerns

  

  Aerolineas Argentinas has become the latest carrier to suspend flights to Caracas. The company said it had concerns over security in Venezuela because of increasing criminal violence and political uncertainty. It joins dozens of airlines who have taken similar action.