China's “insatiable appetite” for seafood is straining the limited abilities of South American countries to enforce their maritime boundaries, according to an article in Dialogo, a website run by US Southern Command. Countries on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts have been affected, and most of the illicit fishing activity in those areas is done by Chinese vessels.
Trade talks between China and the United States this week were extensive, and helped establish a foundation for the resolution of each others' concerns, China's commerce ministry said on Thursday, but gave no details on the issues at stake.
Car sales in China, the world's biggest vehicle market, have seen their first annual fall in twenty years. Sales fell 6% to 22.7 million units in 2018, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will announce on Thursday it is cutting up to 5,000 jobs from its 40,000 strong UK workforce. Management, marketing and administrative roles are expected to be hardest hit, but some production staff may also be affected.
Brazil’s 2018/19 soybean crop forecast was cut to 116.9 million tons on Wednesday from 121.4 million tons late in November, said consultancy AgRural, blaming extreme heat and a dry spell in southern areas for the smaller projection.
Latin American stocks in the region's main markets closed on Tuesday at new highs on the positive outlook for the ongoing US/China trade talks in Beijing. Brazil's Bovespa index ended trading above 92,000 points for the first time ever after hitting several record highs last week.
A US delegation will visit China next week for talks aimed at defusing the trade war between the world's two largest economies. The closely watched meeting follows a dismal week for US markets, with losses fuelled partly by trade fears.
Apple has rattled investors with news that its sales have been slowing, blaming economic weakness in China. In a surprise disclosure, the iPhone maker said it anticipated revenue of about US$ 84bn for the three months to 29 December. In November it forecast sales of at least US$ 89bn - a prediction that had already disappointed investors.
Peru's gross domestic product (GDP) is set to expand 3.7% this year and the next, boosted by the good performance of private investment and consumption, according to The Economist.
United States Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has made calls to the heads of the country's six largest banks, a move to reassure investors after huge falls in US stocks. Last week, US stocks suffered one of the worst weekly falls in a decade as an interest rate rise and US-China trade tensions rattled markets.