Bloomberg reported last Friday that Brazil’s retail sales rose again more than expected. Retail sales went up 1,7% from the previous month, significant stronger than the 1,2% which was forecasted.
Most surprising was the increase in the sale of computer equipment which went up 15,6% compared to last year. If you take the broader index which includes automobile and construction materials, the index went up 10,2%. On a monthly basis, the broader index went up 6,5%, the biggest increase since its launch in 2007.
Good news is that the central bank remains cautious. Which is good; central banks which keep a strong eye on future inflation targeting have our preference.
The plans for expanding Florianopolis airport date from 2004 and would bring it’s capacity to 2,7 million yearly passengers.
The passengers terminal would be expanded from 8.440 m2 to 33.800 m2.
The check-in counters would be expanded to 36.
The parking space for planes would be expanded form 20.187 m2 to 141.700 m2.
4 embarcation bridges would be build
Parking space would be expanded from 500 to 1.850 places.
The airport is extremely convenient, with GOL you are a 3h, 150 € flight away from Buenos Aires and with TAM or Oceanair you fly in 1h10 minutes for 50 – 100 € (depending if you get a promo) into Conhonas in the heart of Sao Paulo.
In 2008, MPX announced the plans for a new Ocean Port for Rio de Janeiro: Porto do Açu.
Strong believing in the prospects of logistic players in Brazil, why bought MPX at 6,95 R$ mid January; today they are trading at 17,85 R$, that is a 156% profit. We believe the stock has the potential to go above 40 R$ by mid 2010.
Port Açu will start operations in 2010. It is located 280 km Northeastfrom Rio, just up from Macae and will be serving Rio, Minas Gerais, Espirito Santo and the oil rigs of the Macae area.
The Port, located approximately 280 km northeast of Rio, is under construction and should be completed by the end of 2011.
On July3d, the Governor of Rio de Janeiro State, announced that the Chinese company WISCO will construct a steel mill at Porto do Açu in partnership with Grupo EBX investments. The project will create 20.000 jobs. Grupo EBX is of Brazil’s richest man Eike Batista.
A few days later, China’s JAC Motorsconfirmed that they will build a vehicle plant in Brazil, also in the new Porto do Açu. The link with the steel mill of WISCO is clear. JAC Motors is China’s leading bus chassis manufacturer. It produces 450,000 vehicles a year including light trucks and multipurpose vehicles.
Some quotes: Just as important, though, is Brazil’s huge domestic market. While outsiders focus on the country’s shipments of iron ore, steel, and soy to China, exports are just 12% of Brazil’s $1.5 trillion economy. It’s the 190 million people and the fast-growing middle class—now more than half the population—that drive growth.
The country’s improving prospects create huge opportunities for entrepreneurs small and large. “Brazil has had so many crises over the years, people got used to them,” says David Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue, who last December started a low-cost Brazilian airline called Azul (Portuguese for “blue”). “I don’t think they’re at all fazed by this crisis—everyone seems to be focused on buying their first car, getting their first credit card.
A beauty salon in Rio de Janeiro highlights the new middle-class buying power. Despite its location in the posh Ipanema neighborhood, the clientele is mostly housemaids, hospital clerks, and other women from relatively modest circumstances. The salon is the creation of Heloisa Assis, known as Zica. One of 13 children, she grew up in a slum supported by her laundress mother. Like many Brazilians of African descent, she had brittle, kinky hair that she says hobbled her chances of getting a decent job. Zica tested homemade potions to tame her unruly Afro and finally came up with a formula that created flowing ringlets. She patented her discovery and in 1993 opened a salon, calling it Beleza Natural, or “Natural Beauty.” She soon had customers lining up at 5 a.m.
That revived auto sales, which in June hit 300,000 vehicles—an all-time high. Even hapless General Motors is enjoying fat times in Brazil, where it’s investing $1 billion through 2012 to develop a new small car. Whirlpool, which has a 40% share of Brazil’s appliance market, has benefited, too. Sales jumped 20% in May and June compared with a year earlier.
If you really want to understand the Brazilian middle class, you should visit with your wife one of the Beleza Natural beauty salons and talk with some women there, ask them about their job, what they earn, what their earning growth was the last years, how they see the Brazilian economy evolving,…
We wrote previously on the Brazilian middle class, but the below graph of Business Week summarizes it best: today, more than 51% of the Brazilian families earn between 616 and 2.579 US$ monthly, consider that Brazil counts 191.200.000 habitants and that the vast majority of the middle class is geographically concentraded in the zone Belo Horizonte - Rio de Janeiro – Curitiba – Porto Alegre, Sao Paulo and you realize what a massive buying power this represents.
The article refers to Whirlpool in Brazil (Brazilian brand name: Brastemp), which has a 40% share of Brazil’s appliance market and who’s biggest manufacturing plant is in Joinville. Sales of Whirlpool jumped 20% in May and June 2009 compared to the previous year which was already a record-breaker.
Many people are now jumping on the MSCI Brazil (EWZ) bandwagon. We bought in early March and yielded a 47% rise, yet we took our profit last week and converted into BRF; more on this later.
Uma vida prática e com muito estilo, é o que o empreendimento Le Jardin tem a oferecer a você e sua família. São três casas independentes cercadas pelo verde em um dos bairros com mais qualidade de vida de Florianópolis.
O empreendimento Moradas da Ilha, oferece a oportunidade única de morar em casas cercadas pelo verde em um dos bairros com mais qualidade de vida de Florianópolis.
