South America

Fernando Fauche said that the Dutch port operator APM Terminals would invest $550m to expand Peru's Callao Port starting in January. Fauche, who spoke to journalists at an event to celebrate the start of direct arrivals to the facility in Peru's central coastline, said that the two-year project will increase the terminal capacity to 24,000 container. Port officials confirmed Wednesday that Peru's Callao began offering direct shipping routes in November from China and South Korea. This reduced transit times to approximately 23 days. The service is intended to improve trade relations with Asia and establish Callao as an important Pacific...

Motiva announced on Tuesday that Mexico's Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste signed a deal to purchase the Brazilian infrastructure operator Motiva's airport portfolio for $11.5 billion (about $2.16 billion), which includes net debt. ASUR will pay ASUR 5 billion reais to acquire Motiva's airport stake, with the remainder being paid through net debt. This is according to a filing by Motiva. The sale is still subject to antitrust approvals. It includes Motiva's stakes at 17 Brazilian airports as well as international hubs located in the capital of Ecuador, Quito, Costa Rica, and Curacao. Motiva says that these airports serve about 45...

The state government reported that a tornado, accompanied by high winds and heavy rainfall, struck Parana in the south of Brazil, killing six. Rio Bonito do Iguacu, the town that was hardest hit, suffered multiple structural failures and roof collapses. The state's civil defence agency reported that more than half of the city area had been affected. The power lines and roads were damaged. The authorities reported that 437 people received treatment for injuries, and approximately 1,000 were forced to relocate. Guarapuava, a nearby city, was also affected. According to the Parana Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring System the winds of...

The differentials between Russian Urals and other oil products remained stable on Friday despite low trading activity. Sellers and buyers were not rushing to begin December trading due to the uncertain political climate. The Suez Canal has seen two tankers with around 1.5 million barrels each of Russian Urals crude drop anchor in the sea. This is an indication of the difficulties Moscow faces selling oil following the tightening of Western sanctions last month. The supply problems are expected to worsen next week, as the deadline of November 21 for Rosneft's and Lukoil's transactions is fast approaching. The schedule shows...

The price differential between Urals and Brent for December arrived in India on Thursday, as the flagship blend of Russia was traded at its steepest discount in over a year. This is due to new U.S. sanctions against Russia's top oil producers. The price difference for Russia's flagship Urals oil in Indian ports has widened from $2 to $4 per barrel under Brent for December arrival. This is the largest discount in about a month. According to estimates and shipping and trading sources, Russia's oil imports to western ports will decrease in November due to higher refinery runs but remain...

Iraqi government awarded $764 million to Corporacion America Airports, a Luxembourg-based company, and Amwaj International of Iraq. The companies announced the award in a joint statement released on Wednesday. Amwaj CEO Namir El Akabi said the project will be a build, operate, and transfer model over a period of 25 years, starting with the expansion of the airport’s capacity up to 8.5 millions passengers in the initial phase through the construction of a brand new terminal. Phase 1 of the project is expected to be finished in three years. Baghdad’s international airport was constructed in the 1970s-80s. Since then, little...

Two sources familiar with the negotiations said that Mexico's Grupo aeroportuario del sureste (Asur), the largest bidder for Motiva's airports, was the Mexican group. Motiva Infraestrutura de Mobilidade (formerly CCR), a Brazilian company, announced in May that it had started the sale process to shift its focus back on its core business of highway concessions. Sources say that Mexico's Asur outbid Spanish operator Aena as well as Argentina's Corporacion America Airports for Motiva’s 17 Brazilian airports, international hubs, and the capital of Ecuador, Quito, Costa Rica’s San Jose, and Curacao. One source said that Asur valued the assets around 5...

In a low-volume trading environment, the differential between Brent and Urals crude remained stable on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Russia's oil exports to western countries in October were in line with their initial plan despite new Western sanctions. LSEG data indicate that despite weather-related restrictions and sanctions pressure, October's exports from the western ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, and Novorossiisk, are expected to be around 2.33 million barrels a day. This is in line with Russia’s revised monthly program. Last week, Britain, the U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia, including the two largest oil producers, Lukoil, and Rosneft. The...

The differential between dated Brent and Urals crude remained unchanged on Monday as buyers of both grades awaited clarity about the impact of new Western sanctions on Russian oil imports. Last week, the European Union (EU), Britain and the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia, including those affecting its two largest oil producers, Lukoil, and Rosneft. The U.S. gave companies until November 21, 2011 to end their transactions with Russian oil producers. Four sources familiar with the discussions said that OPEC+ is likely to increase output modestly in December as it continues with its monthly increases aimed at regaining market share....

The U.S. President threatened 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, sending the markets into a tailspin. Questions about whether Trump's threat to retaliate for China's dramatic expansion of export controls on rare Earths will lead to a full-blown war between the two world's largest economies are likely to dominate the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Washington and Beijing reached a delicate truce over the last five months, which brought down tariffs from triple-digits and led to an upgrade of the IMF's outlook for global growth. Trump's plans to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in the...

Rui Costa said that the Brazilian president's chief of staff has no plans for the government to eliminate the public transport fares in Brazil this year or the next. This comes a day after Brazil's finance minister confirmed the results of studies assessing ways to fund the sector. Costa told a local radio station that there was no plan for this or next year. "I would like to be clear that the president has only asked for studies." A government source said that there were doubts about the logistical and the political feasibility of this proposal. Source: President Luiz inacio...

The maritime agency NABSA announced on Tuesday that U.S. grains trader Bunge will finish loading 30,000 metric tonnes of Argentine soymeal destined for China by Wednesday. This is the first time such a cargo has been loaded. Bunge sent a soybean meal shipment to China in July. Last month, the company diverted the sale from China to Vietnam due to "commercial reasons." According to NABSA’s daily port activity reports, the Sumatra ship will be loaded at T6 terminal which Bunge jointly operate with Argentina’s AGD, in the port city of San Lorenzo north of the agricultural hub city of Rosario....

Petroperu, the state-owned oil company in Peru, announced on Saturday that it had appointed four new members to its board, including a chairman, following the resignation of four previous members. Key Context Four members of the board resigned immediately on November 15: Fidel Augusto Moreno Rodriguez as Chairman, David Quispe Figueroa as Vice-Chairman, Jose Luis Carlos Balta Chirinos, and Cesar Rod Villanueva. Luis Alberto Canales Galvez was named as the new chairman of the company. * Three additional directors have been appointed: Elba Rojas Alvarez De Mares, Jesus Valentin Ramirez Gutierrez, and Oscar Gerio Zapata Alcazar. * The changes have...

Wilmer Macusi, a Peruvian living in northern Amazon, sat atop an old rusty pipe that cut through the jungle and tossed a branch into the stagnant pool of water around it. Macusi, an Indigenous Urarina leader of 25 years, pointed to the place where an oil spill took place in early 2023. "But even if you change the water, the oil will still come out." As plastic barriers intended to contain the spill dropped into the water, black droplets bubbled up to the surface. The pipeline connects a nearby oilfield (Block 8) to the North Peruvian Pipeline, which is owned...

The Dominican Republic announced on Tuesday that it had restored some electricity after an earlier nationwide blackout. In a press release, the power company of the state said that the national power system is gradually being restored after a failure occurred at San Pedro I Substation at 12:23 p.m. Echavarria, during a recent press conference at the Energy Control Center, said that the number of megawatts generated by the Energy Control Center will continue to grow as the stabilization progresses. He said that power has been restored to parts of Santiago and San Cristobal as well as Santo Domingo Norte,...

In an opaque market, the differentials between urals crude and other grades remained stable on Monday as participants assessed the impact of sanctions placed on Lukoil last month and Rosneft the previous month on the supply of this grade to India and Turkey. Sources in the trade said that two Indian state refiners bought 5 million barrels from spot markets as they continued to search for alternatives to Russian oil supplies. Sources said that Lukoil declared force majore at its Iraqi field of oil, while Bulgaria was preparing to seize the Burgas refinery as its international operations buckled due to...

A document obtained by revealed that the Brazilian authorities were investigating a threat made against a substation of a city hosting the United Nations Climate Summit. The report may have links to a gang which was the target of a deadly raid by police last week. Brazil hosts world leaders for a summit in Belem ahead of the COP30 Climate talks. This comes a week after Rio Police targeted the Comando Vermelho gang, resulting in 121 deaths, causing concern among U.N. experts. Verene Energia - the company that manages the Belem - Marituba substation notified Brazil's Mines and Energy Ministry...

A document obtained by revealed that the Brazilian authorities were investigating a threat made against a substation of a city hosting the United Nations Climate Summit. The report may have links to a gang which was the target of a deadly raid by police last week. Brazil hosts world leaders for a summit in Belem ahead of COP30 climate talks. This comes a week after Rio Police targeted the Comando Vermelho gang, resulting in the deaths of 121 people. The U.N. experts are concerned. Verene Energia - the company that manages the Belem - Marituba substation notified Brazil's Mines and...

The Tocantins river is awash with catfish, peacock bass and other fish during the waxing of the moon. Welton de Franca, like his father and grandfather before him, has spent most of his adult life fishing among the rocks of one of the biggest tributaries of the Amazon Basin. Now, the Brazilian government wants to blow up these missiles. The Brazilian government has given approval to blast through 35 km (22 miles) of rapids and turn this sleepy section of Amazon rainforest into a tropical farm belt expressway. The opening of the Araguaia - Tocantins Riverway to barges all year...

The differentials between Brent and Urals crude were unchanged on Thursday, despite a relatively quiet trading session. Western sanctions also weighed heavily on the demand for Russian grades of crude oil. Traders said that buyers of Russian oil from China, India, and Turkey had studied the new restrictions imposed by US, EU, and UK. Traders said that some of them had already looked for alternatives to oil grades on the market. According to traders and a report reviewed on Thursday, Indian Oil, the state-run refiner, is looking to buy more crude oil from Americas. Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals has purchased...

An early morning fire at a substation of Brazilian company Eletrobras caused a power outage in several parts of Brazil. Officials said that the shutdown affected more than one million Brazilians and around 10,000 megawatts of load. OnS, Brazil's energy operator, said that the incident took place in a reactor of a substation located in the south. It shut down the facility, and caused the disconnection for the entire region. The region was exporting 5,000MW to the rest of Brazil. The fire in the South resulted to a loss of 1,600 MW. In other areas, an automatic protection system was...

Petrobras, Brazil's state controlled oil company, announced on Monday that it had imported its first non-conventional gas from Argentina's Vaca Muerta Reserve in the Neuquen Basin. The firm said in a press release that the gas, which was produced by POSA and Pluspetrol, its subsidiaries in Argentina, was transported via pipelines on Friday. This initiative is in line with the Brazilian President Luiz-Inacio Lula Da Silva's aspirations. He has been pressing Petrobras for years to increase domestic natural gas supply, to lower prices for consumers. This solution is a logistical and commercial one that opens up a new option for...

Data from market sources and LSEG show that Russia's seaborne gasoil and diesel exports fell 20% from August to 2.4 million metric tonnes in September, due to unplanned refinery shutdowns caused by Ukrainian drone attacks. Several major refineries were hit by drones in August and September, including Surgutneftegaz's Kirishinefteorgsintez refinery, Lukoil's Volgograd refinery and Rosneft's Samara group of refineries. In September, the Russian Baltic port Primorsk suspended all loadings following a drone strike. Market sources reported that these disruptions resulted in a drop in diesel exports. Due to fuel shortages on the domestic market, Russia has implemented a partial export...

Cenit Colombia, a subsidiary of Ecopetrol, has completed the first import of light crude oil through one of their pipelines. The company is repurposing infrastructure to offer new services. Cenit CEO Alexander Cadena said on Wednesday that the first shipment of 220,000 barges through a 16 inch pipeline, which was previously used for crude oil export, is on its way to Barrancabermeja, during a trip to Covenas maritime terminal, on Colombia's north Caribbean coast. Cadena stated that the shipment would serve as a test to help determine future volumes. He added, "We're open to ways we can use the existing...