Labour markets
Good intentions
Employers are becoming increasingly optimistic about hiring new workers
Jun 8th 2010
FEARS of a "jobless recovery" in the West have abounded ever since the world economy returned from the abyss last year. For some, the latest quarterly survey from Manpower, a global employment-services company, brings timely good news. Of the 36 countries included in Manpower's survey, employers in 30 of them are increasingly bullish about their hiring plans for the next three months compared with the third quarter of 2009. Only in five countries, all of them in debt-laden Europe, are employers expecting negative hiring activity over the next quarter. This compares favourably, however, to the seven European countries with a negative outlook just three months ago. The survey suggests that the BICs (Brazil, India and China) bounce will continue. The three countries, along with Taiwan, report the most positive hiring plans in the survey, with China reporting its strongest hiring plans since the survey began there in 2005.
Turkey slams latest Iran sanctions
By Daniel Dombey in Washington, Alex Barker in London and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
Published: June 9 2010 14:21 | Last updated: June 10 2010 09:46
The US blamed Europe for alienating Turkey from the west as the Nato ally on Wednesday became one of two members of the United Nations Security Council to vote against stepping up sanctions on Iran.
Susan Rice, US ambassador to the UN, attacked the "very unfortunate choices" by Turkey and Brazil, the other country to oppose the measures.
"They are now the outliers," she said of the two traditional US allies. "They are standing outside of the rest of the Security Council, outside of the body of the international community." Russia and China, long doubtful about sanctions, voted in favour after a dogged US campaign for support.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's prime minister, on Thursday followed up his country's 'No' vote by calling the vote "a mistake". He said Brazil and Turkey would continue to seek a diplomatic solution to the standoff.
On Wednesday, Robert Gates, defence secretary, suggested European Union reluctance to admit Turkey as a member could be pushing it away from the west and expressed concern about the deterioration of Turkish-Israeli ties. "If there's anything to the notion that Turkey is moving eastwards, it is in no small part because it was pushed, and it was pushed by some in Europe refusing to give Turkey the kind of organic link to the west that Turkey sought," he said while visiting London.
The resolution, passed by 12 votes to two with Lebanon abstaining, establishes a partial arms embargo, an inspection regime for Iranian ships and takes steps against companies linked to the Revolutionary Guard Corps. The sanctions also hit groups linked to Iran's nuclear and missile projects.
After months of negotiations with Moscow and Beijing the final measures fall short of Washington's original intentions, but President Barack Obama hailed them as "the toughest sanctions ever faced by the Iranian government".
As the US and its allies offered to negotiate with Iran "at the earliest possible opportunity", he added: "These sanctions do not close the door on diplomacy."
But Brazil denounced what it called a "rush to sanctions" and Turkey insisted that a recent fuel swap deal that Ankara and Brasilia struck with Iran had to "remain on the table". The US says that deal is inadequate but yesterday said it was prepared to discuss how it could be improved.
Iran said the resolution "was not the right and logical approach".
No alternative but to sanction Iran
Published: June 9 2010 22:07 | Last updated: June 9 2010 22:07
The screw has been turned a further notch on Iran with the decision of the UN Security Council to tighten sanctions on the regime. There is, however, little sign that the nuclear negotiating game is any nearer conclusion.
This can happen only when Iran enters into negotiations with the west to legitimise its nuclear programme. It was Iran's refusal to accept this principle that effectively killed the deal brokered last month by Turkey and Brazil that would have transferred part of Iran's uranium stockpile to Turkish territory.
In the absence of a deal, the west had no alternative but to keep the sanctions juggernaut rolling. It has always been the policy of the US and its allies to rein in Iran's nuclear programme while avoiding two evils – the first being Iran with the bomb and the second, Iran itself bombed. As time is the enemy – each month that passes potentially brings the Iranians closer to the possession of weapons-grade material – the west could not stay its hand.
The sanctions package is welcome in that it targets Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which effectively drives the nuclear programme and has been in virtual control of the country since an effective internal coup following last year's disputed elections. However, these are far from the "crippling" sanctions that Hillary Clinton once called for – the result of needing to bring more sceptical powers such as China and Russia on board. They are unlikely to bring about a change of heart in Tehran.
If the world is not to drift towards a military conflict involving Iran and Israel that would spell disaster for the region and the world, a way forward still needs to be found. The best hope is that some variant of the Franco-Russian or Turkish-Brazilian proposals for uranium transfer can be revived. The west has left open the door to further discussions on the latter plan. And by voting against the sanctions, the Turks and Brazilians have potentially presented themselves as honest brokers.
But for these initiatives to bear fruit, Tehran has to feel that there is no alternative but to negotiate. That requires a toughening of the Chinese line – and perhaps more enticements from the US side. In the absence of these, it is always possible that a consensus may yet be found among the major and emerging powers as Iran closes in on the nuclear threshold. But it is unsettling for the world to have to wait on events with such great issues at stake.
Petrobras poised for $25bn rights issue
10/06/2010 | Jonathan Wheatley
Brazil's senate was expected to approve a bill late on Wednesday allowing a US$25bn rights issue by Petrobras as early as next month, enabling the national oil company to complete an ambitious investment programme without putting its investment-grade rating at risk.
The bill is part of a legislative programme that would alter regulations governing offshore "pre-salt" fields. These are potentially enormous deposits of oil and gas discovered in 2007, trapped several kilometres under the sea bed beneath a hard layer of salt.
Parts of the pre-salt fields were put out to concessions under existing rules before their potential was understood. The government wants the remainder to be subject to production-sharing agreements it says are needed to maximise government income and increase control over production.
Under the proposals, Petrobras would be the sole operating company in the pre-salt area.
The group is expected to raise about $25bn through the rights issue, strengthening its balance sheet and allowing it to raise more debt without taking its ratio of debt to equity beyond 35 per cent, regarded as the limit for its investment-grade rating.
Petrobras ended the first quarter with a ratio of about 32 per cent after keeping investments this year to a minimum.
Under the capitalisation plan, the government would sell to Petrobras the rights to up to 5bn barrels of pre-salt oil and gas, at a price to be determined by an independent evaluator.
Petrobras would then use these assets as the basis for a share issue, which may or may not deliver more money than it has to pay the government for the rights to the 5bn barrels. Whether or not it makes a monetary gain, the issue would bolster the group's balance sheet, enabling it to raise more debt.
Petrobras plans to invest about R$88.5bn (US$48.1bn) this year, of which it has spent only a small part. It said recently it would spend between $200bn and $220bn during the coming five years, and would be expected to put detail on those plans before a rights issue.
Mônica Araújo, analyst at Ativa Corretora, a Rio de Janeiro brokerage, said she expected the senate to approve the bill unchanged, making it likely that the capitalisation would go ahead next month.
"It's a difficult time on markets, but Petrobras is the only oil company in the world with significant new reserves so it's a good opportunity," she said.
Brazil raises rates to slow growth
10/06/2010
Jonathan Wheatley
Brazil's central bank raised its policy interest rate by three quarters of a percentage point on Wednesday evening in another sign that the country's breakneck pace of growth is causing concern over rising prices.
Brazil's economy expanded by 2.7 per cent in the first quarter over the previous quarter and by 9 per cent over the first quarter of 2009, the national statistics office said on Tuesday. That is much faster than what many economists consider to be the potential, or non-inflationary, rate of about 4.5 to 5 per cent.
"This shows there has been no change in the bank's position since its previous increase in April," said Silvio Campos Neto of Banco Schahin in São Paulo. "It is clear from all the indicators that the economy is heating up and inflation is still above target. This is worrying and demands further increases in rates."
The bank raised its target overnight Selic rate to 10.25 per cent a year, the second three-quarter point increase at the last two six-weekly meetings of its monetary policy committee.
Consumer price inflation ballooned from a low of 4.17 per cent a year last October to 5.22 per cent in the 12 months to May. Many economists expect inflation to reach 6 per cent by the end of this year, well above the government's target of 4.5 per cent. Economic growth is expected to be about 6.6 per cent this year.
Mr Campos said he expected the bank to raise the Selic rate to 11.75 per cent by the end of this year.
He said successive interest rate increases would help bring growth back to sustainable levels and predicted the economy would grow by about 4.3 per cent in 2011.
Brazil's domestic market has recovered quickly from a brief recession during the global crisis, spurred on by a rising consumer class that has benefited from more than a decade of economic stability and low inflation, and from low-cost but effective income transfer programmes.
But the fast pace of growth has exposed bottlenecks such as the poor quality of Brazil's infrastructure and its heavy tax burden. The rate of investment has risen in recent years but is still short of what is needed to deliver fast, sustainable growth.
Brazil Inflation Eases But Not Pressure On Central Bank
JUNE 9, 2010, 11:27 A.M. ET
RIO DE JANEIRO (Dow Jones)--Consumer price growth eased slightly in May, but the inflation reprieve was likely temporary and will not affect a monetary tightening cycle under way at the Brazilian Central Bank.
The IPCA consumer price index rose 0.43% in May compared with a 0.57% gain in April, the Brazilian Census Bureau, or IBGE, said Wednesday. The rolling 12-month inflation rate retreated to 5.22% but remained above the government's year-end target of 4.5%.
With the rolling 12-month inflation rate still above the government's year-end target and Latin America's largest economy expanding at a record pace in the first quarter, the Brazilian Central Bank was expected to raise rates for a second time this year at its meeting later Wednesday.
"Given the current scenario, the central bank doesn't have any reason to change its posture--so it should continue raising interest rates," said Jankiel Santos, an economist at Sao Paulo-based investment fund BES Investimento.
The bank's Copom rate-setting panel increased the benchmark Selic base interest rate by 75 basis points at its April meeting, the first rate hike in nearly two years. The Selic currently stands at 9.5%.
Economists polled in the central bank's weekly market survey released Monday forecast Selic to end 2010 at 11.75%.
Brazil's conservative central bank has long been hawkish on inflation, with many members recalling the hyperinflation that racked Latin America's largest economy in the 1990s. In minutes from the April meeting, central bankers expressed concerns about rising price pressures caused by domestic demand.
In April, output at Brazil's mines and factories returned to the pre-crisis peak set in 2008. Brazil's economy also surged 9.0% year-on-year in the first quarter, the country's best gross domestic product growth in more than a decade.
Finance Minister Guido Mantega said Tuesday that the end of government stimulus implemented in the wake of last year's brief recession should help trim domestic demand. Higher interest rates and bank reserve requirements should also cut into credit availability, the minister said.
Despite expectations that economic growth should diminish from the record first-quarter levels through the rest of 2010, some economists see price pressures increasing again the second half of the year.
Goldman Sachs economist Luis Cezario said in a research report that elevated GDP growth will further squeeze production capacity and labor markets.
"Therefore, we believe that after a temporary decline between May and June, inflation will rebound in the second-half 2010, rising toward the ceiling of the target band by the end of the year," Cezario wrote.
May's inflation data showed that food prices, which carry the largest weighting in the IPCA and have long been a primary culprit in local inflation, have stabilized. Poor weather that had affected recent harvests has improved, IBGE officials said.
Food prices, however, remained high, advancing 5.18% in the first five months of 2010. That's the highest year-to-date gain since a 6.85% advance in the first five months of 2003.
But the unexpected fallout from Brazil's booming economy has been in price pressures outside of food and beverages, economists said. Prices for such essentials as housing and medications continue to rise, while recent adjustments to electricity rates and school tuitions were still reverberating.
"With respect to the deceleration seen in May, the numbers are not very positive because only the food segment showed prices under control," Jankiel Santos said.
Santos expects the IPCA to end 2010 at 5.5%.
Minister:Brazil May Need To Adopt Harsh Inflation Controls -Estado
JUNE 9, 2010, 12:43 P.M. ET
SAO PAULO (Dow Jones)--Brazil's government may have to adopt harsh measures to control inflation in light on the extremely high first-quarter growth figures, said Planning Minister Paulo Bernardo Wednesday, according to the local Estado newswire.
Speaking at an event in Sao Paulo, the minister said the economic team is monitoring prices carefully and realize that measures, such as interest rate hikes and increasing reserve requirements, may be necessary.
Brazil's central bank started a monetary tightening cycle in April with a 75 basis point hike in the Selic base rate to 9.5%. Economists expect the central bank to announce another 75-point hike later Wednesday and see the Selic nearing 12% by the end of 2010.
Brazilian price growth slowed in May but the official 12-month rolling IPCA inflation figure still stood at 5.22%, above the government's year-end target of 4.5%.
On Tuesday, Brazil's Census Bureau, or IBGE, announced that gross domestic product expanded 9% in the first quarter from the year-earlier period.
Brazil's central bank is not autonomous but President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva guaranteed Central Bank President Henrique Meirelles that he wouldn't interfere in monetary policy. That has not stopped Bernardo, Finance Minister Guido Mantega and other members of the government's economic team from questioning the central bank's orthodox monetary stance in the past.
Petrobras Fuels Real as Stock Sale Attracts Investors (Update1)
June 10, 2010, 3:02 AM EDT
June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Brazil's real is leading major emerging-market currencies this week as Petroleo Brasileiro SA prepares to sell $25 billion of stock and the central bank raises interest rates.
The 0.8 percent appreciation is the biggest among the six most-traded emerging-market currencies, compared with a 0.7 percent gain for Mexico's peso, a 0.1 percent decline in the South African rand and a 0.7 percent slide in the Taiwanese dollar, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Brazil's Senate approved today a bill allowing a share sale by the Rio de Janeiro-based company that would be the biggest in the Western Hemisphere in at least a decade. The combination of the offering and Brazil's rising rates may lure international investors to real-denominated assets. RBS Greenwich Capital Markets and Patria Investimentos forecast more gains.
"Petrobras will be one of the largest deals and all the foreign investors we talked to are interested," Luis Fernando Lopes, who helps manage 1.1 billion reais ($595 million) in assets as a partner at Patria, said in a telephone interview from Sao Paulo. "We see continued appreciation of the real."
The rally follows a five-week, 7.4 percent slide sparked by concern Europe's debt crisis will slow global growth and erode demand for Brazil's commodity exports.
Rate Increase
Finance Minister Guido Mantega said April 26 in New York that Brazil was considering "further measures" to weaken the real and support its exporters. Those efforts are being undermined as central bankers raise interest rates to cool the fastest growth in 15 years and bring inflation down from 5.2 percent, which is 0.7 percentage point above their annual target.
After markets closed yesterday, policy makers boosted the benchmark lending rate 75 basis points to 10.25 percent, in line with the move forecast by all but two of the 52 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The increase was the second straight 75 basis-point move, bringing the rate up from a record low 8.75 percent in April.
The yield on Brazil's interest-rate futures contract due in January, the most active in Sao Paulo trading, rose four basis points yesterday to 11.03 percent ahead of the policy meeting. That contract suggests traders expect the central bank to boost the rate to about 12 percent by year-end, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Oil-for-Stock
The real, whose 33 percent appreciation last year was the biggest among major currencies, will strengthen to 1.77 per dollar by the end of the third quarter from 1.8501 yesterday, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 21 economists. RBS predicts it will reach 1.73 by then and 1.72 by year-end.
Petrobras, Latin America's biggest company by market value, plans to buy 5 billion barrels of government-owned oil reserves with new stock and raise as much as $25 billion from minority investors. The offering will help fund as much as $220 billion of spending through 2014, the world's biggest oil-industry investment plan.
Senators allowed Petrobras to issue new shares in exchange for the rights to explore government-owned oil reserves off Brazil's coast. The lower house passed the legislation in March. Congressional backing of the bill would bolster the plan and enable the offering to be done as soon as next month, said Flavia Cattan-Naslausky, a currency strategist with RBS in Stamford, Connecticut.
Foreign Investors
Petrobras last week picked Banco Bradesco SA, Citigroup Inc., Itau Unibanco Holding SA, Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley and Banco Santander SA to manage the sale.
Petrobras fell 0.4 percent yesterday to 29.55 reais, paring its advance to 1 percent this week.
International investors have bought 67.5 percent of the 12.4 billion reais of shares sold in offerings in Brazil this year, up from 66.7 percent of the 43.5 billion reais of stock sold in 2009, according to BM&FBovespa SA. In 2007, a record year for Brazilian share offerings, they bought 75.4 percent of the 65.5 billion reais sold.
The sale "is going to generate decent flows," Cattan- Naslausky said in a telephone interview. "It just reminds the market that Brazil is one resilient story," she said.
Declines in the real beyond 1.88 per dollar would create "opportunities" to buy the currency, she said in a report dated June 8. The rally spurred by the pickup in foreign investment may be limited by central bank dollar purchases in the local market, Cattan-Naslausky said.
'More Aggressive'
The central bank bought $4.2 billion in the foreign- exchange market in May, the most since October, to stem the real's rally and bolster foreign reserves.
The dollar purchases "reinforce a more aggressive central bank attitude in regards to stemming the pace" of the real's appreciation, Cattan-Naslausky said in the report.
The yield premium investors demand to own Brazilian government dollar bonds instead of U.S. Treasuries narrowed four basis points to 247 yesterday.
The cost of protecting the nation's debt against non- payment for five years with credit-default swaps increased one basis point to 147, according to data compiled by CMA DataVision. Credit-default swaps pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent should a government or company fail to adhere to its debt agreements.
'Big Values'
Option traders are becoming less pessimistic about the real. One-month options giving investors the right to sell the real cost 6.05 percentage points more than contracts to buy it yesterday. The premium has fallen from 6.96 percentage points on May 20, which was the most since March 2009.
Foreign institutions placed 108,394 more wagers on the currency falling than rising as of June 4, a decline from 112,634 net bearish bets on May 21, according to data compiled by BM&FBovespa.
State-run Banco do Brasil SA's planned share sale is also fueling gains in the real, said Jose Carlos Amado, a currency trader at Sao Paulo-based brokerage Renascenca DTVM. The Brasilia-based bank, Latin America's biggest by assets, is slated to set a price for the shares before month-end in an offering that could raise as much as 9.4 billion reais.
"We're talking about big values," Amado said. "That will certainly affect the exchange rate."
--With assistance from Ye Xie in New York, Maria Luiza Rabello and Andre Soliani in Brasilia and Peter Millard in Rio de Janeiro. Editors: David Papadopoulos, Lester Pimentel
Brazil Raises Rate to 10.25% to Slow Economic Growth (Update2)
June 09, 2010, 7:29 PM EDT
June 9 (Bloomberg) -- Brazilian policy makers raised their benchmark interest rate today for a second straight meeting in a bid to bring inflation back to target amid forecasts the economy will expand this year at the fastest pace in decades.
The eight-member board led by President Henrique Meirelles voted unanimously to increase the Selic by 75 basis points to 10.25 percent from 9.50 percent, as expected by 50 of 52 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Two economists had forecast a full-point jump. Today's decision was without a bias.
Central bankers ended nine months of record low interest rates in April as surging domestic demand helped fuel the fastest expansion of Latin America's biggest economy in 15 years in the first quarter. At the same time, inflation exceeded the government's target of 4.5 percent every month this year and economists surveyed by the central bank don't expect policy makers to slow consumer prices to their target by the end of this year or next.
"The central bank focused on signs that the domestic economy is too heated," Jankiel Santos, chief economist at Banco Espirito Santo de Investimento, said in a phone interview from Sao Paulo. "The bank didn't hint at any change in its future strategy -- they'll raise the rate by another 75 basis points next month."
While annual inflation, as measured by the benchmark IPCA index, slowed to 5.22 percent in May from 5.26 percent in April -- the first deceleration in seven months -- the rate remained above 4.5 percent for a fifth straight month.
Inflation Target
The bank, in a one-sentence statement accompanying its decision today, said the increase would help "ensure the convergence of inflation to the target trajectory."
Since the central bank's April rate increase, traders have signaled growing confidence that policy makers will manage to control inflation even as economists forecast growth will accelerate this year to the fastest pace since 1986.
The difference between yields on overnight interest rate futures contracts due in January 2011 and those maturing in January 2013 narrowed today to 107 basis points, or 1.07 percentage points, from a three-month high of 193 basis points on April 22.
"The market is calmer," said Marcelo Saddi Castro, the chief investment officer at SulAmerica Investimentos overseeing 16 billion reais ($8.6 billion) in Sao Paulo. "When the market sees the central bank is doing a good job, it feels comfortable about the inflation outlook."
GDP Growth
Gross domestic product grew 9 percent in the first quarter from the year-earlier period, the most since 1995, the government said yesterday in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil is the second-fastest growing economy among the so- called BRIC countries, behind China, which expanded 11.9 percent in the first quarter. India grew 8.6 percent in the first three months of the year and Russia expanded 2.9 percent.
Chinese-like growth in Brazil is leading to supply shortages. Cia de Bebidas das Americas, the region's largest brewer, had to import beer cans for the first time in its 125- year history after local supplies were exhausted.
Acucar Guarani SA, the country's third-biggest sugar producer by market value, left 10 percent of its crop sitting in the fields an extra 40 days because of a shortage of tires for its harvesters, even after the commodity hit a 29-year high in February.
"Policy makers cannot be lenient with inflation," Zeina Latif, chief economist at ING Bank NV, said in a phone interview from Sao Paulo. "The economy is expanding above potential and the central bank needs to act."
Growth Outlook
Still, the speed of economic growth will "decelerate sharply" in the second quarter with the end of tax cuts aimed at boosting demand during the global financial crisis, Virgilio Castro Cunha, income strategist at Bank of America Corp. in Sao Paulo, wrote in a note to clients yesterday.
Apart from raising rates and allowing tax breaks to expire to slow economic expansion and inflation., President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration increased the level of deposits lenders must keep on reserve at the central bank and trimmed 10 billion reais in spending,
The euro-zone crisis, which is making it more difficult for companies to sell shares in the stock market and roll over debt, will also help cool the economy, Finance Minister Guido Mantega said yesterday.
EL BANCO CENTRAL ELEVÓ EL INTERÉS POR SEGUNDO MES CONSECUTIVO PARA LLEVARLO HASTA UN NIVEL DE 10,25%
Brasil volvió a subir la tasa enfiar una economía que corre el riesgo de sobrecalentarse
EL CRONISTA Buenos Aires ()
El Banco Central de Brasil elevó ayer la tasa de interés de referencia en 75 puntos base por segunda vez consecutiva, a 10,25%, en un esfuerzo para evitar un sobrecalentamiento de la mayor economía de América Latina.
El endurecimiento monetario fue decidido por unanimidad por el Comité de Política Monetaria (Copom) del Banco Central y se adecuó a lo esperado por el mercado. De ese modo, la tasa de interés referencial Selic volvió al nivel definido en abril del año pasado.
La autoridad monetaria también dijo que compró u$s 4.172 millones en el mercado de cambios a la vista en mayo, en el marco de sus esfuerzos por acumular reservas internacionales y absorber el fuerte flujo de divisas extranjeras a la plaza local.
Con las subastas de compra de dólares, las reservas internacionales de Brasil ya superan los 250.000 millones de dólares, el mayor nivel histórico.
El flujo cambiario de Brasil arrojó un saldo positivo de 2.605 millones de dólares en mayo, Pese a todo, el saldo positivo fue el mayor desde noviembre del 2009, cuando Brasil anotó una entrada líquida de 3.890 millones de dólares.
En lo que va del año, Brasil ha tenido una entrada líquida de 7.376 millones de dólares, muy superior a los 1.606 millones de dólares verificados en el mismo período del 2009.
Toda la actividad monetaria
Los Grobo apunta a expandirse en Brasil
10/06/2010
El grupo Los Grobo dijo que seguirá aumentando su superficie sembrada y sus inversiones en Brasil, según explicó ayer el CEO de la compañía, Gustavo Grobocopatel, de visita en San Pablo.
"Hoy Brasil es nuestro principal foco para el crecimiento de la compañía", informó Grobocopatel, que ya había anunciado meses atrás que Los Grobo triplicará la superficie sembrada en el país vecino hasta llegar a las 150.000 hectáreas, en un período de tres años.
Por otro lado, Grobocopatel, en declaraciones a la agencia Reuters, señaló que una gran parte del incremento de su suministro de producción provendrá de la soja de Brasil. Así, la unidad de la empresa en ese país manejará 800.000 toneladas de granos, principalmente de soja, contra las 600.000 toneladas del ciclo pasado.
"Plantaremos 70.000 a 80.000 hectáreas en el próximo ciclo, principalmente en Mapito. El mayor crecimiento provendrá de allí", anticipó el CEO de Los Grobo, que comprende los Estados de Maranhao, Piaui y Tocantins, en el norte del país.
Por otro lado, Grobocopatel sostuvo que Brasil probablemente duplique su producción de granos en las próximas tres décadas y para que su empresa sea competitiva en el sector, será necesario que esté bien organizada. "Nuestra compañía está construyendo una plataforma para responder a este crecimiento de la producción de granos en Brasil", dijo.
Finalmente, el ejecutivo comentó que no preveía que la empresa fuera a abrir su capital en el corto plazo, aunque sí veía una Oferta Pública Inicial (OPI) como algo necesario en el largo plazo. "En el futuro, una compañía como Los Grobo tiene que ser abierta, pero no en el corto plazo. No se puede ser adulto sin pasar por la adolescencia", graficó Grobocopatel.
En enero, Los Grobo asumió una participación de control de la empresa brasileña Ceagro, que produce granos en la región de Mapito. Luego, Ceagro fue fusionada con Los Grobo Brasil, la subsidiaria local del grupo. Dos años después de la llegada de Los Grobo a ese país, Brasil ya explica la mayor parte del volumen de operaciones de Los Grobo.
Lula, molesto y crítico
10/06/2010
10/06/10
Por SAN PABLO. CORRESPONSAL
Para Brasil, las sanciones aplicadas ayer contra Irán por el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU "es una victoria pírrica". Fue la evaluación del presidente Lula da Silva luego de conocer el resultado de la votación del organismo, que aprobó el proyecto de las cinco grandes potencias que lo gobiernan. " Es un episodio que debilita a las Naciones Unidas" sostuvo el líder brasileño para luego rezar para que "Ahmadinejad permanezca tranquilo".
Lula no pudo reprimir su enojo cuando advirtió que "las potencias se creen dueñas del Consejo". No le cayeron bien las declaraciones de la secretaria de Estado Hillary Clinton quien, desde Colombia, sostuvo que "Brasil y Turquía van a continuar con un papel importante" en el esfuerzo negociador con Teherán. Para el canciller Celso Amorim, a Irán "ni siquiera le dieron tiempo para discutir modificaciones al acuerdo" para satisfacer a las cinco potencias.
