Brazil

The lower house of Congress in Brazil approved on Wednesday an executive order that allows the government to sell its share of offshore oil pre-salt fields, which are not under contract. This could boost revenues as Brazil struggles to balance its fiscal budget. Jose Priante, a lawmaker from the Philippines, incorporated its content into an executive order on how oil and gas revenue can be used for certain programs. The executive order amended, which is now going to be approved by the Senate, will expand the use of these resources. In April, it was reported that the government planned to...

According to Pietro Mendes of the Mines and Energy Ministry, the National Energy Policy Council of Brazil (CNPE) approved on Wednesday increasing the percentage of ethanol in gasoline from 27% to 30% and the amount biodiesel to diesel from 14% to 15%. Mendes stated that the changes in fuel mixtures will be effective from August 1. Before This year The CNPE has decided to keep the biodiesel mix at 14%, despite industry groups' objections. Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy said in March that increasing the percentage of gasoline from 27% to 30% was a good idea Tests are a...

Tomas Manzano said that the sugarcane harvest by Brazilian Copersucar partners in the 2025/26 season is expected to be at or above the levels of 2024/25. Manzano, a Copersucar partner, said that the partners would crush 107 millions metric tons sugarcane by 2024/25. He added that the company is expecting similar or even better results for the current cycle due to an increase in the size and quality of the sugarcane harvest, as well as other investments. This forecast contradicts the expectations of the industry as a whole, who expect a decline in production. "Copersucar's area is expanding and shouldn't...

The Swiss Attorney General's Office handed a former wealth management at Pictet Bank an eight-month prison term with a suspended sentence, and fined the bank for money laundering during a Petrobras investigation. Pictet has been ordered to pay $2,5 million for failing to take reasonable and necessary steps to prevent transfers made from a Brazilian official's account to conceal their criminal origin. The Swiss government announced this in a press release. Since years, Swiss prosecutors are working to identify assets in a massive international corruption case involving the Brazilian state-run Petrobras and bringing forward prosecutions. Pictet issued a statement saying,...

Nelson Tanure, a Brazilian businessman, has started talks with banks to secure a deal for the petrochemical company Braskem. He hopes to close a deal by year's end and give Petrobras an increased role in its operations. Braskem, Latin America's biggest petrochemical company, has been looking for a buyer since years. Novonor is the controlling shareholder and wants to get out of bankruptcy protection. It also wants to put an end to a massive corruption scandal. Tanure is a new bidder trying break the deadlock between Novonor and the banks that hold Braskem shares in collateral, and Petrobras which is...

Petrobras, the state-owned oil company of Brazil, has announced that it will lower gasoline prices for distributors starting Tuesday. This is the first time since October 2023 that the price of the fuel has been reduced. Petrobras announced in a Monday statement that gasoline prices would drop by 5.6%, to an average of 2.85 reais ($0.5005)/litre. This represents a 0.17-reais reduction per litre. According to ANP data, gasoline sales in Brazil increased 4.6% from April of last year, and reached 3.81 billion litres. Gasoline sales in the first four months of the year totaled 14.74 billion litres. This is a...

According to two sources familiar with the situation, the government of Brazil and the major banks that are Braskem's key creditors have so far been skeptical about the bid of businessman Nelson Tanure for a controlling interest in the petrochemical company. Sources who requested anonymity in order to discuss private discussions said that for now, lenders prefer to have a plan to restructure a company, and eventually sell the shares used as collateral to repay outstanding loans. Sources said that the banks were shocked by Tanure’s formal offer to buy a controlling interest in Braskem made on Friday and had...

Tereos warned on Wednesday of a challenging year as the fall in European sugar and the weak margins of the starch industry are likely to continue to impact results in the first halves of the company's financial year, after the initial bite in 2024/25. The European Union sugar price dropped by 35% between March and the end of last year due to a surplus of sugar in Europe, as well as competition from cheaper Ukrainian sugar. Tereos CEO Olivier Leducq said to reporters that 2025 would be a difficult year. Leducq stated that the EU sugar market will likely rebound...

Three sources at Brazil's state-owned oil company said that Petrobras is looking to change the shareholders agreement of Braskem to give it more influence over the decisions made by the petrochemical company. Petrobras holds a 47% stake with voting rights in the petrochemical firm, but it has only appointed four out of eleven board members, and one out of seven directors, which the sources consider to be a small number. A fund controlled by Nelson Tanure, a businessman and Braskem's major shareholder Novonor, received a nonbinding proposal last week to take control of the biggest petrochemical firm in Latin America....

A securities filing on Friday showed that Brazilian businessman Nelson Tanure had made an offer to purchase a controlling interest in Braskem. Tanure is looking to expand his investment portfolio by partnering with Latin America's biggest petrochemical company. Local media reported Tanure's proposal earlier in the day. This boosted Braskem shares traded in Sao Paulo by more than 9%. It was the largest gainer of the benchmark Brazilian stock index Bovespa which closed at 0.4%. According to a filing by the petrochemical company, which cited Novonor’s letter, the tycoon wants to buy the controlling stake of Braskem from conglomerate Novonor...

The Brazilian federation for oil workers (FUP) announced a two-day strike warning against Petrobras, the state-owned oil company, on Thursday. "In protest at the stagnation in the negotiations with the company," a statement said. The oil giant has pledged to implement austerity measures in response to lower oil prices. Petrobras reported earlier this week a first-quarter earnings. Net profit The firm said it would need to reduce its investment by 35.2 billion reais (6.25 billion dollars) if Brent crude oil prices fall. Cut costs Where possible, please try to avoid using the internet. FUP stated that "dissatisfaction grew after statements...

Yusuf Tuggar, Nigeria's foreign minister, said that the country is in talks with Petrobras about exploring its deep-water oil acreage, after years of the Brazilian oil giant leaving the nation. Petrobras has ceased operations in Nigeria but is keen to return. "They said they wanted frontier acreage on deep water," Tuggar, a vice president's statement quoted as saying. Brazil will host both the BRICS Summit and the COP30 meeting this year, after hosting the G20 last year. Nigeria will promote investment during these summits, as it seeks to strengthen ties with Brazil, particularly in the areas of energy, culture, health...

The High Court of London ruled that BHP will be held in contempt for its funding of litigation to try and prevent certain Brazilian municipalities from suing BHP over one of Brazil’s worst environmental disasters. The ruling on Thursday is the latest in a long-running lawsuit over the failure of the Mariana Dam in Southeastern Brazil, which was owned and operated jointly by BHP's Samarco joint enterprise and Vale. Judge Adam Constable stated that it is arguable BHP, world's largest miner in terms of market value, has funded Brazilian litigation for the municipalities to stop them suing London "with the...

According to a filing with the Brazilian Securities Commission, Vale announced on Wednesday that Mark Cutifani would step down as Chairman of its copper-nickel spinoff Vale Base Metals in order to "pursue professional projects." The company announced that Vale CEO Gustavo Pimenta would replace him in July. This will "ensure strong leadership and alignment with Vale’s broader strategic goals" within the business. Vale, the iron ore giant, spun off its base metals division as a separate company with headquarters in Toronto by 2023. The goal is to eventually list it. Cutifani, who was chief executive of London-listed Anglo American for...

Iron ore futures ended a three-day rally Tuesday, despite a stronger outlook for supply from Australia's top producer. However, the resilient steel demand in China helped to cushion the fall. The September contract for iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange ended the daytime trading 0.42% lower, at 703 Yuan ($97.97). As of 0725 GMT, the benchmark July Iron Ore traded on Singapore Exchange fell 0.71% to $93 per ton. Rio Tinto, world's biggest iron ore producer enters a joint venture to develop the Hope Downs 2 Project in Western Australia. Rio announced in a press release that the two...

China's imports of iron ore are expected to be their highest month in this year in June, a sign of resilience not mirrored by the steel industry's sluggishness. According to analysts LSEG & Kpler, China is expected to import nearly 110 million metric tonnes of this key raw material for steel. Kpler estimates that 109.56 millions tons of cargo will arrive in June, while LSEG predicts 109.1million. It would be an increase of about 11% over May's official imported 98.13 millions tons, and the best month since December's 112,49 million tons which was the second highest on record. Why are...

Ternium, an American steelmaker with a large business in Mexico, demanded on Wednesday that the terms of a trade agreement for the region be strengthened ahead of a review. This was despite the current challenges posed by steel tariffs levied by President Donald Trump's government. Why it's important Steel products are subject to a 50% tariff on all shipments from Mexico into the U.S., but shipments from Mexico under the U.S. Mexico-Canada (USMCA), trade agreement, are exempted from tariffs. Last week, it was reported that the U.S. is negotiating with Mexico to reduce or remove steel tariffs for imports of...

After missing the deadline for confirming the bid, Brazilian power grid operator ONS denied Vale's request that it increase electricity consumption at its northern Onca Puma Nickel complex. Vale is preparing to launch a second Onca Puma furnace, a $555-million expansion that will help boost nickel production for the miner in the coming years. Vale said that it would still operate the new furnace, despite being denied the request. From around 160,000 tons of nickel last year, the miner aims to increase its global production to 250,000 tons by 2030. The second Onca Puma furnace is expected to increase annual...

The stocks of Brazilian steel companies dropped on Wednesday, after the government announced that it would extend for another 12 months the system designed to protect the steel industry in Brazil. However, steelmakers said the system was ineffective. Why it's important Steel industry criticised the quotas almost immediately after they were introduced last year. They claimed that it did not control the imports, mostly from China. Steel products are allowed to enter the country as long as they do not exceed the import quota. They will have to pay an import tax between 9% and 16 %. Agencia Brasil, the...

Brazilian beef processor Marfrig revealed on Thursday that it plans to complete the takeover of BRF, a poultry and pork processor. It also hinted at plans to list shares in the combined entity eventually in the United States. Marfrig has been pursuing a strategy of gaining scale in order to compete with Brazilian meatpacking company JBS. JBS is preparing to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. All three companies are now listed on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange. Marfrig, BRF and other parties disclosed that the proposed deal involved a share exchange whereby BRF holders would receive...

In a video posted on Monday, Augusto Vasconcelos, Bahia's state labor secretary, said that the new factory of Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD in Brazil would be "fully operational" by December 2026. Its operations had been delayed due to an investigation into possible labor abuses. He added that the factory would start to produce cars by the end of the year from semi-finished kit. Vasconcelos said in a video posted on social media that a new schedule was being set up so that the factory would be fully operational by December 2026, with an expectation of 10,000 jobs. Vasconcelos revealed...

China's exports of steel in April exceeded 10 million metric tonnes for the second consecutive month, bringing the total over the first four-month period to a new record high. This was largely due to the fact that shipments were made ahead of the hefty tariffs announced by U.S. president Donald Trump. Customs data released on Friday showed that the world's biggest steel exporter and producer shipped 10,46 million tons last month. Exports were up 13.5% from the same period in 2024, despite being largely unchanged since March. Exports between January and April increased by 8.2% compared to the previous year,...

The CEO of Brazilian nickel miner Vale said that the company is looking at alternatives to sell its nickel assets, including partnerships and putting them in care and maintenance. This is because the market has a difficult short-term outlook, he added. The chief executive of the company, Gustavo Pimenta, told reporters in Rio de Janeiro that there is a surplus on the market due to Indonesian production. "Nickel is attractive on a medium- and long-term basis," said Pimenta, citing the demand for electric car production. The executive said, "The question now is how to stay profitable in the short-term." Vale's...

Biomas, an initiative for reforestation in Brazil backed by several major corporations, unveiled on Friday its first project. It aims to restore 1,200 ha (2,965 acres), of Brazil's Atlantic coast rainforest, with more than 70 native tree varieties. The project represents a major milestone for the company formed in 2022 by Vale Mines, Marfrig Meatpackers, Suzano Pulpmakers, Santander Brasil, Itau, and Rabobank. The initiative comes at a time when Brazil's carbon removal industry is growing, and major reforestation initiatives are already underway. Startups Mombak and Re.green offer credits to companies who want to offset their greenhouse gas emission. These two...