China South America » Commodity

FT reports Argentina swoop scuppers China oil deal

Benito — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:31:28 +0000

To respect the high quality journalism produced by the Financial Times I will honor their request not to copy and paste their content.

However click here to read about the soap opera that has become Sinopec of China’s attempt to buy 57% of Repsol of Spain, stake in Argentina’s oil company YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales) before it was nationalized by Buenos Aires.

Two sides of Peru’s mining boom – Al Jazeera

Benito — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 03:07:53 +0000

Rare question and answer Xinhua Exclusive on China- Latam relations

Benito — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:57:12 +0000

Thank you Xinhua News. Please click here to access the article from Xinhua News.

China to deepen ties with Latin-America

2012-01-17 17:26 chinadaily.com.cn

Yang Wanming, director-general of the the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, exchanged views with chinanews.com readers online on Tuesday afternoon.

Yang Wanming, director-generalof the Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, answers questions from chinanews.com readers online on Jan 17, 2012. [Photo/Chinanews.com]

Topic: China-Latin America cooperation in culture

Q: How do China and Latin America cooperate in the field of culture?

A: China has opened 32 Confucius institutes in Latin America, covering almost all Latin American countries. Both sides also send art troupes to visit one another and conduct people-to-people exchanges. Many Chinese people like their football, music and dances and engage in studying Spanish and Portuguese. Many Chinese books have also been translated into Spanish and sold in Latin America.

Topic: Cooperation in energy

Q: What’s the current situation with Sino-Latin American energy cooperation? Some people think China is plundering energy resources there and uses it as a way to curb the US.

A: China is trying to carry out comprehensive cooperation with Latin American countries and its efforts have been well welcomed by them. The cooperation not only benefits the two parties, but also contributes to global peace, stability and prosperity. It started late and is on a relatively small scale, but has been developing fast. China imported 20.73 million tons of crude oil from Latin American countries in 2010, which accounts for 8.7 percent of China’s total import in that year. Venezuela has become China’s 4th largest oil provider. The two parties will explore cooperation on new energy. It’s totally based on equality and mutual benefit and will do no harm to the third party.

Topic: US view on China-Latin America relationship

Q: The relationship between China and Latin American countries has developed so fast. What do you think of the feeling in the US to this?

A: In recent years, the independence of Latin American countries is growing and its economic growth momentum becomes more diverse than before.

The rapid development of China-Latin America relations is on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win for both sides and is within the needs of Latin American countries’ diversified diplomacy and development strategy.

It will not only benefit development of both, but also contribute to the world’s stability and development.

China and the US have already established a consultation mechanism on Latin-America, and through four different consultations, the two parties have enhanced their mutual trust on this issue.

And the US has repeatedly stressed in their consultations that strengthening relations between China and Latin American countries will be good for Latin-America’s stability and development.

Topic: Chinese workers kidnapped in Colombia

Q: It was reported that several Chinese employees were kidnapped in Colombia by unidentified armed militants. How are they now? Could you release some information about the rescue efforts?

A: Four Chinese workers were kidnapped by some unknown armed militants in Caquetá province in Colombia on June 8, 2011. We have urged the Colombia authority to spare no effort to carry on the rescue work under the premise of guaranteeing the safety of hostages. Since then, the Chinese embassy in Colombia has kept in close cooperation and contact with Colombia’s relevant departments. The rescue work has not finished yet, but the safety of the four hostages can be guaranteed. Chinese companies are facing more risks as they go global on a larger scale. We need to increase our political backup and diplomatic guarantee to them, strengthen the consular protection and safeguard their legitimate interests. Meanwhile we advise Chinese people in Latin America to improve their sense of safety and precaution.

Q: How about China-Mexico relations?

A: China and Mexico are both developing countries and are working at enhancing people’s living standards. They hold the same positions on many international issues and regularly cooperate on these..

China and Mexico have some trade friction over trade imbalance problems, but we hope both sides can deal with the problems reasonably and from a development point of view.

We hope both can take active measures to promote the diverse, comprehensive and healthy development of the two countries’ economic and trade relations.

February 14 marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Mexico. We believe the relations can become more comprehensive, steadier and healthier with the two countries’ joint efforts in the future.

Q: Can you talk about the relationship between China and Brazil?

A: Brazil is one of the biggest countries in Latin America and one of the emerging powers in the region. The China-Brazil relationship is one of the most important between China and Latin America.

In recent years, the strategic partnership between China and Brazil has made considerable progress. They maintain a good momentum of high-level exchanges and the political mutual trust is deepened.

Their economical cooperation is also deepening constantly, which has brought tangible benefits to people of both countries. Bilateral trade volume exceeded $80 billion in 2011. Investment cooperation in finance, energy, steel, and machine manufacturing has also made great progress, and is expanding constantly.

China and Brazil have active exchanges in science, technology and culture as well.

The cooperation in the fields of Earth resource satellites, agricultural technology and aviation is progressing continuously. And the cooperation in culture and education is also very close.

China’s Confucius Institute Headquarters opened two Confucius Institutes and a Confucius school in Brazil and Brazil’s important media institutions have sent many journalists to work in China.

China and Brazil are both developing countries and have broad and consistent interests on major international issues. The Chinese government attaches great importance to relations with Brazil and believes the two countries’ cooperation in various fields will make great progress with their joint efforts.

Jim Rogers on Euro, Investment Strategy, MF Global – BLOOMBERG

Benito — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:16:18 +0000

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings, talks about his investment strategy and the collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd. Rogers, speaking with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television’s “Surveillance Midday,” also discusses the outlook for Brazil. (Source: Bloomberg)

Click here to watch the video direct from Bloomberg

Commentary: U.S. needs bigger thinking on Latin America

Benito — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 06:33:14 +0000

ANDRES OPPENHEIMER of the Miami Herald and CNN Español discusses US Foreign Policy towards Latin America

Note the author of this blog (me) does not always agree with what Mr. Oppenheimer says, but his article no less merits a quick read. Some major points which any reader giving this a quick skim should note –>

1/ The Obama Administration has left the post of Head Latin American affairs vacant for 5 months. So much for making good on promises back in 2008 to forge closer ties with the region… Big disappointment here, but not any worse or better than the disappointment / let down his predecessor Bush Jr also produced. It seems the last President to care at all about the region was Clinton who did more than organize summits… He laid the foundation for FTA’s with countries in the region via NAFTA

2/ Obama did not visit Brazil, the growing powerhouse and member of the BRIC club until 3 years into his presidency. When he did visit, he received nothing but criticism for going through with the official visit between the heads of state of the Western Hemisphere’s two largest economies… because the visit happened to coincide with start of Western Military efforts in Libya. For the US media which pointed the finger at Obama, shame on you, the President does not physically need to be in the United States to be “Commander and Chief,” especially for an internationally organized, and initially French lead military mission. For Obama, shame on you too! It took you three years to visit Brazil! I think for Brazilians this is an obvious insult, but even for the rest of South America (and Latin America as a whole), Obama, Bush Jr. and the United States… well… Latin America is feeling a bit as if they are being ignored. One thing is certain – China is not ignoring Latin America, nor is India, Russia or even small players like Singapore which is investing to expand the Panama Canal.

3/ As Ray Walser, Senior Policy Analyst for Latin America at The Heritage Foundation very appropriately points in a 2009 publication “U.S Policy toward Latin America in 2009 and Beyond” From 1996 to 2006, total U.S. merchandise trade with Latin America grew by 139percent, compared to 96 percent for Asia and 95 percent for the European Union. In 2006, the U.S. exported $223 billion worth of goods to Latin American consumers(compared with $55 billion to China). Fifty-one percent of U.S. energy imports originate from Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Brazil.

Excerpt from Oppenheimer’s article –>

U.S. diplomatic ties with Latin America, which have been in limbo for months, got a small boost last week when President Barack Obama nominated Roberta Jacobson as top State Department official in charge of Latin American affairs. But that alone will not do much to revert the gradual loss of U.S. clout in the region.

Granted, the career diplomat gets high marks from almost everybody in Washington’s small world of Latin American affairs specialists. Unlike her predecessor Arturo Valenzuela, a political appointee whose nomination in 2009 was blocked for several months by Conservative republicans, the Senate is expected to easily confirm her nomination.

Among the most urgent issues Jacobson would have to deal with would be the long-stalled U.S. ratification of the free trade deals with Colombia and Panama, the escalating violence in Mexico, and the April 2012, 34-country Summit of the Americas in Colombia.

On a wider spectrum, she would have to find new ways to improve ties with the region at a time when China has eclipsed much of the previous U.S. economic influence in South America’s commodity producing countries.

Click here to read Oppenheimer’s full article via the Kansas City Star

China Latin America Trade Jumps in 2010

Benito — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:12:02 +0000

Presidents Dilma Rousseff and Hu Jintao in China last month can celebrate rising two-way trade. (Photo: Roberto Stuckert Filho/PR)

China’s trade with Latin America is growing twice as fast as U.S. trade with the region.

BY RUTH MORRIS of the The Latin American Business Chronicle

SHANGHAI — China’s dragon breathed fire into Latin America in 2010, as trade between the two sides shot up by a spectacular 51.2 percent, to $178.6 billion, and memories of the economic recession melted away.

China’s trade with Latin America is growing at nearly twice the level of US trade with the region. It also is significantly higher than the 31 percent increase in trade between the European Union and Latin America last year.

Click here to read more direct from the Latin American Business Chronicle

BBC Documentary: “The Chinese Are Coming” (Part 1 and 2)

Benito — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 06:38:32 +0000

Part 3 and 4 will be uploaded tomorrow.

All courtesy of the BBC

Peru to set up sovereign wealth fund

Benito — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 13:57:57 +0000

Img courtesy of Wikicommons

Peru plans to set up a sovereign wealth fund, taking advantage of record foreign reserves and metal prices to finance investments in infrastructure and education, Finance Minister Ismael Benavides said.

The Andean country may tap its $44 billion in foreign currency reserves and tax revenue to create the fund before the President Alan Garcia’s term ends in July, Benavides said in an interview in New York today.

“We have not only reserves but extraordinary revenues from mineral exports,” the 65-year-old Benavides said, without providing details about how the fund would work. “We might come up with something in the first quarter next year.”

The fund would be modeled after a $12.8 billion fund Chile created in 2006 to hoard windfall profits from surging copper prices, Benavides said. Peru is the world’s largest producer of silver and second-largest producer of copper after Chile. Metals accounted for 62 percent of exports in the first half of 2010.

Click here to read the full article, direct from Bloomberg

Sinopec to Invest $7.1 Billion in Repsol’s Brazil Unit

Benito — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 04:45:36 +0000

China Petrochemical Corp., the country’s second-largest oil and gas producer, will invest $7.1 billion in Repsol YPF SA’s Brazilian unit as the Spanish oil company raises funds to develop offshore projects.

Sinopec Group, as the company is known, will buy new shares in the Brazilian unit and will hold 40 percent of that division after the capital increase, Madrid-based Repsol said today in a statement. Shares in Repsol, which previously planned an initial public offering of the unit, jumped to a two-year high.

The acquisition is the second-largest overseas purchase by a Chinese company as the world’s biggest energy consumer snaps up fields to meet surging demand. Repsol has stakes in blocks in Brazil’s Santos and Espirito Santo basins and plans to invest as much as $14 billion there through 2019. It estimates the Guara and Carioca fields may hold as much as 3 billion barrels.

… Continue reading here direct from Bloomberg

China’s centralised top-down approach to business in the outside world

Benito — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:55:36 +0000

The Sydney Morning Herald published a great piece on how China’s quest for mineral and energy wealth outside its borders is not coming along as easy as some media would suggest.

Chinese investors are finding that the centralised, top-down approach does not work in the rest of the world.

The map of China’s overseas resource investments is not a pretty picture. In the developed world, Chinese investors are tangling with unfamiliar regulations, labour markets and technologies.

In unstable nations, particularly in Africa, they are aligning themselves with transient regimes. In South America and the Pacific Islands, which have pugnacious traditions of local community rights, they are finding that doing cozy deals at the state level does not solve grassroots problems.

Click here to read the complete article direct from the Sydney Morning Herald