Business News Americas - Top Stories

Petrochemicals - Brazil - Basf inaugurates sodium methylate plant in Guaratinguet�

Linus Hoggett — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:29:53 (GMT -0400)

Germany's Basf (NYSE: BF), the world's largest chemical company, has officially inaugurated its 60,000t/y sodium methylate plant in Guaratinguet�, in Brazil's S�o Paulo state. Production, which sta...

Infrastructure - Brazil - Airport infrastructure to see US$1.17bn public investment - Infraero president

Daniel Bland — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 11:54:49 (GMT -0400)

Brazil's national airport authority Infraero expects to see big improvements to the country's airports in 2012 through some 2bn reais (US$1.17bn) in public spending, Infraero president Gustavo do Vale...

Electric Power - Regional - Vestas Americas backlog hits 2.39GW

David Casallas — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:30:42 (GMT -0400)

Wind power company Vestas' order backlog in the Americas at end-December reached 2.39GW compared with 1.68GW at end-2010, according to a presentation by CEO Ditlev Engel. Deliveries to the region i...

Metals - Brazil - Novelis reports US$12mn loss in fiscal Q3 due to market pressures, destocking

Frederico Barbosa — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:04:47 (GMT -0400)

US-based aluminum rolled products maker Novelis (NYSE: NVL) posted a US$12mn net loss attributable to common shareholders in fiscal Q3 ended December 31 due to market pressures and greater than expect...

Oil & Gas - Colombia - Total, Sinochem to complete Tepma deal in coming weeks

James Fowler — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:11:22 (GMT -0400)

France's Total (NYSE: TOT) hopes to complete the sale of its Colombian subsidiary Tepma to Chinese firm Sinochem within the coming weeks, a spokesperson for the former company told BNamericas. "As ...

Water & Waste - Mexico - More developed desal market could shore up shrinking water resources - Acciona

Rebecca Conan — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:17:54 (GMT -0400)

The Mexican government will need to develop the desalination market over the coming years to cope with decreasing water availability, Ignacio L�pez, Acciona Agua's director of Latin American projects,...

Banking - Regional - La Hipotecaria has modest goals for Colombia this year, big plans for 2013 onward

Andrew Rogers — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:22:11 (GMT -0400)

Panama-based mortgage lender La Hipotecaria has modest growth goals for its new Colombian operation this year, but big growth plans for 2013 onwards, CEO John Rauschkolb told BNamericas. The compan...

Telecommunications - Regional - No ideological differences holding back South American fiber optic ring - minister

Pedro Ozores — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:26:52 (GMT -0400)

Brazil's technical proposal for the South American fiber optic ring has been very well received by all of the countries looking to participate in the project, and no ideological disagreements have man...

Mining - Peru - New territorial organization law fundamental for development, expert says

Rafael Ponce de Leon — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:13:32 (GMT -0400)

The implementation of a new territorial organization law in Peru is fundamental for the country's sustainable development, environmental engineer Jorge S�nchez told BNamericas. Legislators are curr...

Insurance - Colombia - Local industry to benefit from strong economy expansion in 2012 - Fitch

Jorge Porter — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:47:43 (GMT -0400)

Colombia's insurance industry in 2012 will benefit from the positive performance of the local economy, which Fitch estimates will grow some 5%, the ratings agency's insurance director, Milena Carrizos...

Info. Technology - Chile - Sonda files new EIA for US$20mn data center

Patricia Guerra — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:36:12 (GMT -0400)

Chilean IT systems integrator Sonda has filed a new environmental impact assessment (EIA) for a tier III data center being built in capital Santiago with a US$20mn investment, according to a company f...

Privatization - Brazil - Embasa plans US$36mn Ilh�us water, sanitation projects

Daniel Bland — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:57:33 (GMT -0400)

Northeastern Brazil's Bahia state water and sewerage utility Embasa is preparing more than 62.5mn reais (US$36.4mn) in water projects for the Ilh�us metropolitan region, a company spokesperson told BN...