Business News Americas - Top Stories

Petrochemicals - Brazil - Rhodia begins local production of glycerin-based solvent

Fernanda de Biagio — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:43:58 (GMT -0400)

French chemical firm Rhodia has begun production in Brazil of its Augeo solvent range based on glycerin, a byproduct of biodiesel production. The solvent was developed in Brazil over three years an...

Banking - Argentina - Ita� BBA could close year with 7 fixed-income deals, sees more action for 2010

Ulric Rindebro — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:41:12 (GMT -0400)

Banco Ita� Argentina's investment banking and corporate finance arm, Ita� BBA, will most likely close this year with seven fixed-income deals on its books, and is expecting activity to pick up next ye...

Insurance - Brazil - Ita� Unibanco, XL announce buyout deal for corporate insurance JV

James Newman — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:48:40 (GMT -0400)

Brazilian banking group Ita� Unibanco (NYSE: ITUB) and Bermuda-based XL Capital (NYSE: XL) have announced a deal to hand over corporate insurance JV Ita� XL Seguros Corporativos to the bank. In a s...

Privatization - Brazil - CCR posts US$107mn profit for Q3

Daniel Bland — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:06:36 (GMT -0400)

Brazilian tollroad operator CCR (Bovespa: CCRO3) reported a 185mn-real (US$107mn) profit for Q3, down 15.7% year-over-year. "The decrease in profit is mainly due to increased costs related to the a...

Water & Waste - Jamaica - NWC to launch tender for treatment plant works in March

Catherine Setterfield — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:15:38 (GMT -0400)

Jamaica's national water commission (NWC) expects to launch a tender for the rehabilitation of the Mona and Hope water treatment plants by March 2010, engineering department head Anthony O'Connor told...

Oil & Gas - Brazil - OGX to spud three new wells

Jo�o Carvalho — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 13:44:54 (GMT -0400)

Brazilian independent oil company OGX will spud its third well in the offshore BM-C-41 block in the Campos basin this month, company CFO Marcelo Torres told a webcast. "OGX-3 will be drilled in a f...

Electric Power - Argentina - Loma de la Lata deal with Cammesa to bring in US$37mn/y, says Pampa CEO

Christopher Lenton — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:04:18 (GMT -0400)

Pampa Energ�a's (NYSE: PAM) deal to sell at least 50% of the power generated from the expansion of the Loma de la Lata thermo plant to state wholesale power market administrator Cammesa will add US$37...

Info. Technology - Peru, Regional - Mining sector showing interest in sustainability solutions - SAP

Matthew Malinowski — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:17:54 (GMT -0400)

Peru's mining sector is showing increased interest in sustainability solutions, the product development manager for SAP (NYSE: SAP) Latin America, Berenice Mendoza, told a conference call. "Mining ...

Telecommunications - Regional - Latin America in third phase of MVNO evolution, says consultancy

Patrick Nixon — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:06:13 (GMT -0400)

Latin America is entering the third phase of evolution of the mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) business model, according to Signals Telecom Consulting. According to the consultancy, this phas...

Infrastructure - Chile - Autopista Central looks to eliminate errors in toll charges

Catherine Setterfield — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:43:2 (GMT -0400)

Chilean capital Santiago's Autopista Central highway concessionaire is using advanced intelligent transport technology to eliminate errors in toll charges, company representatives said at a conference...

Metals - Venezuela - Excluding companies from national aluminum corporation a mistake, Mibam says

Harvey Beltr�n — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:11:32 (GMT -0400)

Excluding state companies Bauxilum and Carbonorca from the decree creating the Venezuelan national aluminum corporation was probably a mistake, Iv�n Hern�ndez, the deputy ministry of basic industries ...

Mining - Chile - Codelco to start bioleaching operation at Radomiro Tomic in 2010

Pablo Gaete — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:55:16 (GMT -0400)

Chile's state copper producer Codelco plans to start a bioleaching operation, its largest to date, at the Radomiro Tomic mine in the country's northern region II in 2010, a source associated with the ...