Chile keeps vault of seeds to protect biodiversity in case of disaster

For the past 25 years, the Chilean agriculture ministry´s Institute of Agriculture and Livestock Investigations has kept a highly secured vault built in the middle of a mountain that is meant to protect seeds and preserve agricultural biodiversity in cases of a natural disaster or a human-caused catastrophe. The vault is part of a system of five seed-and tubers-banks across Chile. Read More »

Brazil´s Embraer gets new order for jets, releases projections

Embraer during September received an order for 18 E175 jets from SkyWest, delivered a Legacy 500 business jet to Flexjet LLC, and separately projected its deliveries to China and the rest of the world for the next two decades. Embraer Executive Jets announced Tuesday that Dallas-based Flexjet LLC, a provider of jet ownership services, received its first Legacy 500 business jet. Read More »

Improved price drives Brazilian coffee exports up to $4.1 billion from January-August

Brazilian coffee exports during the first eight months of the year expanded in terms of revenue but were lower in terms of volume compared to the same period last year, thanks to better prices. Brazilian coffee exports reached $4.1 billion during January through August, which was 1 percent more than in the same period a year earlier in dollar terms, Agencia Brasil reported. Read More »

Colombian companies face rising taxes as government oil revenue drops

Colombian companies face a challenging scenario as the country´s government, hit by declining oil-related revenue, is increasing taxes to try to offset lost income. Oil related revenues account for a large percentage of government income, so the decline in oil prices “left an important hole,” Natalia O'Byrne, director of Fitch Ratings Colombia, told Latin Business Daily. Read More »

Security infrastructure spending in Latin America creates opportunity

Latin American spending on security infrastructure in borders, ports, airports and prisons has increased in recent years as countries replace outdated equipment, a security expert told Latin Business Daily. The market for those products has expanded so that it may provide $500 million in sales over five years, Eduardo Parodi with Smiths Detection said in a telephone interview Friday. Read More »

Brazilian Skol tops Mexico's Corona to become No. 1 Latin brand

Unlike the rest of the world where technology brands are the most valuable, beer names are worth the most in Latin America and this year Brazilian beer Skol overcame Corona to become the brand with the biggest value in the six countries surveyed. “The difference between both brands is minimal. One is worth $8.5 billion and the other $8.476 billion,” Fernando Alvarez said. Read More »

AppNexus expands Latin American business with RealMedia purchase

Advertising technology company AppNexus, with headquarters in New York and operations on five continents, bought Sao Paulo-based RealMedia Latin America to gain local expertise as it expands in the region. “The goal of the acquisition was to provide us with deep local expertise as we service our clients and grow our business in that region," AppNexus Vice President John Barr said. Read More »

Developers of Nicaragua Canal move forward as scientists show concern

The Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Co. (HKND Group) said this week it started an aerial survey along the proposed canal route planned by the Chinese group and the Nicaraguan government as a larger alternative to the Panama Canal. The survey will cover the 172.5-mile canal corridor connecting the Atlantic to the Pacific and a 1.25 mile-wide circumference of Lake Nicaragua. Read More »

Company manufactures, markets 3D printers in Argentina

Trideo, an Argentine company started in 2014, is offering 3D printers that are fully made in the country. “The printers are entirely made here. ... Considering the limitation of imports and the exchange policy it is an environment somewhat special to buy machinery from abroad, but we can say we are in the range for similar machines," company co-founder Nicolas Berenfeld said. Read More »

Funding a major hurdle for Latin American animated filmmakers

The Latin American animated film industry has managed several successes by joining forces, but it still works hard to overcome hurdles, an animated film producer told Latin Business Daily. Milton Guerrero, who produced the 3D animated film A Mouse Tale, said that obtaining funds is perhaps the biggest challenge in Latin America  since animated films are still a niche product. Read More »