After two deadly dam disasters that made Vale SA a pariah of the global green movement, Brazil's largest mining company is striving to put the environment and climate at the heart of its business, Chief Executive Eduardo Bartolomeo told Reuters. Bartolomeo, speaking in an interview at the Reuters Impact conference, said the disasters - which killed nearly 300 people and caused huge environmental damage in Brazil - were a wake up call that forced the company to think differently. "I think everybody woke up. I think the incidents, the tragedies, unfortunately pushed us to open up our minds.
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State prosecutors in the state of Minas Gerais have filed a lawsuit seeking 2.5 billion reais ($457 million) from miners Vale, Samarco and BHP related to a tailings dam disaster in 2015, according to a statement on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Prosecutors allege that the companies have not fulfilled the obligations outlined in a settlement agreed in 2018, in which the miners agreed to pay damages to the people affected by the disaster. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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Brazil’s annual inflation has probably peaked in September and is now going to slow to policy makers’ 8.5% estimate by end-2021, according to central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto, Bloomberg News reported. “I think the high is going to be in September,” Campos Neto said at an event organized by Morgan Stanley on Friday, adding that prices tend to “accommodate” going forward. Brazil’s annual inflation surpassed 10% in mid-September for the first time since 2016 as fuel and food prices jumped. Brazil will publish September’s inflation data on Oct.
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LATAM Airlines Group, the region's largest carrier, said yesterday that it had secured additional financing of up to $750 million, a key step in a bankruptcy protection process the airline initiated in 2020, Reuters reported. LATAM filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. in May 2020 as world travel came to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic. At the time, it was the world's largest airline to take such action due to COVID-19.
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Chile's lower congressional chamber on Tuesday approved a bill that would allow citizens to make a fourth withdrawal from their pension funds, and sent it to the Senate for a vote, despite opposition from the government, Reuters reported. The initiative passed with 94 votes in favor, just one more than the minimum needed, while 39 lawmakers voted against and 9 abstained. Chile's government and the Central Bank have warned that passing the bill would negatively affect the economy, as Chileans further deplete funds meant for retirement.
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German industrial inspector TÜV Süd was on Tuesday accused of evading its responsibilities over its alleged role in the 2019 deadly collapse of a dam in Brazil, as Brazilian claimants kicked off the first civil lawsuit in Germany over the disaster, Reuters reported. The municipality of Brumadinho and the family of an engineer killed in the accident allege the company negligently certified the Brumadinho dam in southeastern Brazil, although it did not meet international safety standards.
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Distressed fertilizer-producer Monómeros Colombo-Venezolanos, the Colombian subsidiary of Venezuelan state-owned Pequiven, has filed for bankruptcy protection on the heels of a regulatory intervention, Argus Media reported. Colombian corporate regulator SuperSociedades is expected to accept the company into a reorganization process that would lead to an "expedited rescue plan." The strategic company supplies about 40pc of the Colombian market.
Unable to sell such assets as its retail outlets and its online domain, Brazil’s Sarava Libraries suffered a new setback in its judicial recovery plan and risks declaring bankruptcy, Lodi Valley News reported. After an action by one of its creditors, technology company Infosys, which questioned the retailer’s plan filed in March, the court has now decided that Sarava will file a new proposal within 30 days, under pain of filing for bankruptcy. However, a few days before this decision the company had already made an adjustment to the plan and is contemplating the failure to sell the assets.
The airline industry in Latin America continues to deal with vastly divergent travel rules, vaccination rates and political posturing, slowing the region’s widespread recovery from the global pandemic, FlightGlobal reported. From Mexico in the north, which never really shut down even at the height of the crisis, to Argentina in the south, which still caps passenger numbers and maintains high taxes on international travel, the region’s rebound could take much longer than the rest of the world’s. “Airlines are returning,” says Peter Cerda, IATA’s regional vice-president for Latin America.
Argentina’s dollar bonds and U.S.-traded equities slid on Monday as President Alberto Fernandez swore in new cabinet ministers and moves past a week-long political crisis, Bloomberg News reported. The nation’s $10.5 billion in bonds due 2041 slipped as much as 1.4 cents to 36.8 cents on the dollar, while the unofficial peso exchange rate, known as the blue-chip swap, weakened 1.5% to 184 pesos per dollar. U.S.-traded shares also fell as much as 13%, with the local benchmark index posting the worst returns among indexes in the Americas amid a global selloff.