According to a research released this Thursday by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, industrial production in the country increased 8.3% last year. The sectors which contributed the most were the automotive, foods and alcohol and oil refining. There was an improvement in salaries. For the minister of Finance, Antonio Palocci, this shows that Brazil is recuperating in a balanced way.
Browsing: Economy
In an attempt to establish closer ties between the Mercosur and the Andean Community, the Brazilian government has just ratified a free trade agreement. The agreement was signed in October during the Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Latin American Integration Association. There is also the intention of signing a free trade agreement with the Caribbean.
The federal government and some sector organizations are suggesting that Brazilian exporters fix prices in euros. This measure could be an answer to the problem of the weaker dollar against the Brazilian real, as the euro has shown itself less volatile in the medium term. In 2004, for example, those who sold more products in dollars lost 8%. With regard to euro sales, they only lost around 0.51%, according to the secretary general of the CCAB, Michel Alaby.
With the increase in demand for alternative fuels, the sector is adding up the figures and believes that the country may consolidate itself as the main world supplier. Last year, foreign sales reached 2.4 billion litres, against 1.1 billion in 2003. For the first time the main product in the trade basket was fuel alcohol.
The Brazilian plastics industry spent, in 2004, US$ 643 million with the import of resins, their main raw material, but the Arab country did not participate in the list of suppliers. Egypt, however, exported naphtha for use in the petrochemical industry to Brazil. Sales totalled US$ 8.9 million. The Egyptian diplomatic corps in Brazil are making an effort to improve these figures.
The group from the International Monetary Fund came to the country for the tenth and last evaluation of a US$ 30 billion agreement with the organization. During the eight days they spent in the country, they visited various ministries and the Central Bank.
During the last edition of the Couromoda, the owner of brand Anna Pedracini, released eight months ago, noticed that sales of Brazilian shoes to the Arab countries had risen significantly. The company already exports to Austria, Germany and the United States and now seeks buyers in the Middle East and North Africa. Anna Pedracini produces 3,000 pairs of shoes a month and opted for tilapia fish leather as it is a different raw material and as the fish is bred in captivity.
Brazilian export revenues to the 22 nations in the League of Arab States reached US$ 317 million in January. The value is 24% greater than that obtained in the first month of 2004 and was above the forecasts by the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce for this year. A large part of these sales were of basic products, like meats and sugar that are less affected by oscillation of the currency as prices are stipulated by the foreign market. The US dollar is becoming weaker against the Brazilian real,
Agência Brasil Rio – Petrobras informs that it hired the French firm, Axens (of the French Petroleum Institute group), to reduce the sulphur content of its gasoline and thus improve the quality of the fuel. The contract, which was signed today, foresees the construction of ten sulphur reduction units in eight Brazilian refineries, by 2009.
The sector reached revenues of US$ 17.5 billion in 2004, in current figures, presenting growth of 30% over the 2003 result. Exports broke a historic record bringing the industry trade balance to a historic equilibrium. Despite the good performance, the best in the last nine years, the weaker dollar against the Brazilian real may affect the growth in 2005. The Arab countries are included in the list of new markets and should continue importing Brazilian machinery this year.
Petrobras, the Brazilian state-owned oil giant, was one of the winners of a tender opened by the government of the Arab country. The contract with the Libyan oil company will be signed this month and forecasts an exploration phase to take five years. The area to be explored is on the Mediterranean Sea and is close to fields that already produce large volumes. In case a viable reserve is found, the period forecasted in the production concession is 25 years.
Geovana Pagel São Paulo – The exports of Brazilian machinery and equipment has broken a new historic record bringing equilibrium to the sector trade balance. Foreign sales have reached US$ 6.841 billion, which represents a growth of 38.5% over the 2003 result. Imports, in turn, have reached US$ 6.836 billion, an increase of 18% when
