Paraná’s water level is the lowest since 1944, the result of a prolonged drought upriver, in southern Brazil. Amidst the drought, ships travelling on the Paraná have been forced to reduce their soy, corn and wheat cargo by 25%, with larger cuts looming. In July, the Argentine government announced a $10.4 million relief fund to offset these economic losses. Government officials have advised citizens to “save water,” and capture rain for home and commercial use. Within these dry conditions, officials are also urging people to stop burning waste or igniting fires to provide pasture. As the Paraná shrinks, thousands of wildfires have raged in the last two years, lighting skies with an eerie orange hue visible from rural farmlands as well as urban luxury apartments.
Argentina launches employment program for young people
The Argentine government Monday launched a training program for young people, aiming to give them equal access to jobs in the software and related sectors. The program plans to train 60,000 young people by the end of the year. Various industries of the knowledge economy, such as software and computer systems, video games, audiovisual production and post-production, directly and indirectly employ 450,000 people and have the potential to create another 100,000 jobs, said the Government.
Argentina adds new rules to curb COD delays for contracted renewables
The Argentine government has introduced a resolution to accommodate to some extent those renewable energy developers who had been late with reaching commercial operation date (COD) of their auction awarded projects. Argentina awarded PPAs to some 4.5 GW of renewable energy projects through its RenovAr auction programme and over 200 MW via the so-called MiniRen round for small-scale schemes, but the process to get the plants up and running has been exacerbated by the country's prolonged economic crisis and the pandemic.
Metallurgical companies want to export some $7.5 billion a year.
Metallurgical industrialists want to return to exporting $7.5 billion a year, as they did a decade ago, lost due to the recurrent economic crises. Among the complications is to improve the so-called Tax Bonus Regime for Capital Goods, a benefit that most of the SMEs in the sector have to compete with the robust industry of São Paulo.
In 17 months, the value of the real estate in Buenos Aires has fallen 11%
The price per square meter of real estate in the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, calculated in dollars, fell 11% between January 2020 and May 2021. The value went from $2,256 per square meter to $1,958 this year.
Wheat exports fell by 30% year-on-year in volume
Wheat exports to June of the 2020/21 season fell 30% year-on-year to 7.52 million tons. Dispatches were almost 3 million tons lower than those shipped on the same date last year, which meant the lowest tonnage since the 2015/16 cycle. Despite this, the improvement in international wheat prices provided substantial support to the value of exports in recent months.
Balanz Group expands in the region: opens offices in Uruguay
The Balanz Group announced this Friday that it would open offices in Montevideo, Uruguay, to continue growing in the offer of investment strategies, in a first stage focused on developing the Wealth Management business, later venturing into institutional trading and capital markets. With 20 years of experience in the Argentine capital markets, the Group already has offices in Panama and the United Kingdom.
Mastellone completed the $200 million bond swap
The dairy company Mastellone Hermanos S.A. informed that it successfully completed the exchange process of its Series F bonds for an amount of $200 million. The transaction involved using a combination of different financial instruments, including the issuance of a new international bond in the amount of almost $111 million.
Record foreign exchange from agriculture: $16.6 bn in revenues through June
The first half of the year closed with a record foreign currency inflow of $16.6 billion. The determining factor for the record liquidation of foreign currency from the countryside was the high international prices, particularly for soybean and corn, which showed increases of around 40% during the last eight months.
Procrear: launch of 54,175 new loans announced
The government announced yesterday the launching of 54,175 new personal and mortgage loans through the federal programs Casa Propia and Procrear II. The investment of around 132 billion pesos ($1.38 bn) will create more than 116 thousand jobs.
