Latin American Company

Mercado Libre announces investment of US$75 million for new Distribution Center in Argentina. The new warehouse in San Pablo, will be able to ship 400 thousand products per day and It will be ready at the end of 2025. According to the company, It will generate more than 2,300 jobs. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/eHfgX-ph

EU looks to ink major economic deal with Latin America this year Less than 100 days before the US presidential election, there is growing global focus on the polarized politics of the United States. However, Europe is also ramping up its engagement in the south of the Americas as it attempts to secure a breakthrough Mercosur trade deal that could be sealed at November’s G20 summit in Brazil. The European Union is currently negotiating trade deals with multiple key world powers, including India in the Asia Pacific. However, its top international trade priority in the second half of 2024 is probably the Mercosur deal with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, which would create a “new” combined market of some 800 million people. European firms already have around 300 billion euros (S$434.7 billion) of investments in Mercosur countries. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/drvzR_Qm

Mexico mega-chain Oxxo enters US market, to take over DK stores in Texas, New Mexico The owner of Mexico's Oxxo convenience stores is crossing the border and expanding to parts of West Texas and New Mexico. Fomento Económico Mexicano, or FEMSA, based in Monterrey, Mexico, has agreed to buy the 249 DK convenience stores from Tennessee-based oil refiner Delek US Holdings for $385 million in cash. About 90% of the 77 DK convenience stores operate in Texas, with some in New Mexico and a small presence in Arkansas. The deal was announced on Aug. 1 and is expected to close by the end of 2024. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/epe_8b_D

Airbus Helicopters and ITP Aero expanding operations in Querétaro During the Farnborough International Airshow, Airbus Helicopters and ITP Aero announced significant expansions in Querétaro, Mexico. ITP Aero will be adding 200 new jobs with its production center expansion, building on the 200 jobs created last year. This expansion underscores its role as a pioneer in Querétaro's aerospace sector, having been there for 26 years. Airbus Helicopters, on the other hand, plans to invest US $49 million in Querétaro, creating 600 new jobs. This investment is aimed at enhancing production processes for Airbus single-aisle commercial aircraft. Overall, these expansions highlight Querétaro's growing importance in the global aerospace industry, supported by its skilled workforce and competitive advantages. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/e-6s67Xn

Paraguay experiences record foreign trade in the first half of 2024 Paraguay exports marked a record sum in the first six months of 2024, having totaled, US$ 8,57 billion, the highest in the last five years and also a maximum diversification of markets in 136 different countries. Stats were supplied in a draft paper on foreign trade from the Paraguayan central bank. It is important to notice that Paraguay has become a tail member of the short list of world exporters of soybeans, and despite being one of the very few countries in the world with full diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a third of its import trade is from China, Beijing. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/dd3grayi

Femsa, with various options for expansion of Oxxo to the south of the USA   Fomento Económico Mexicano (Femsa), one of the largest commercial and consumer conglomerates on the continent, has as one of its objectives to expand its Oxxo convenience stores in the United States market, a plan that it has already tried to develop in the past, and that now it could materialize by no longer having the restrictions that its shareholding in the Heineken brewery meant, in which it divested last year. The owner of the Coca-Cola Femsa bottling company has already indicated that sees greater opportunities to carry out her plan in the border states of the United States. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/eNKJw3f4

Amazon Partners Up with Vrio to Launch Satellite Internet Across South America. Buenos Aires – Vrio Corporation, the parent company of DIRECTV Latin America and Sky Brasil, signed an agreement this week to market services offered by Project Kuiper, the low-Earth orbit satellite broadband network being developed by American technology giant Amazon (AMZN), in South America. The service will initially be available in the southern hemisphere in Argentina and Chile, and later in Australia and New Zealand. The satellite deployment process is expected to begin at the end of 2024, Amazon told Bloomberg Línea. U.S.-based Vrio, part of Argentina’s Werthein Group, plans to distribute Project Kuiper to residential and business customers in Brazil, Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. The service will be offered as part of packages from DIRECTV Latin America and Sky Brasil, in accordance with each country’s regulations. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/eBEkVHgB

Stellantis will Invest Billions to Manufacture New Models in Brazil, Argentina Stellantis (STLA), the company behind Fiat and Jeep, is planning to produce new models and develop novel technologies in its South American plants, as it looks to launch hybrid and fully electric cars across the continent. At its Brazilian factory in Goiana (Pernambuco) it expects to invest around R$13 billion (US$2.519 billion) between 2025 and 2030, while allocating US$387.49 million to its Argentine production hub over the same period. The group’s plan also includes launching the first SUV to be produced in Argentina under the Peugeot brand. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/eV_ub_WA

Honda to invest $808 million in Brazil by 2030 Japanese automaker Honda, will invest 4.2 billion reais (USD 807.74 million) in its Itirapina plant in Brazil by 2030, an executive said on Friday, adding the company aims to develop a hybrid-flex vehicle in the South American country. According to Brazil's government, investments pledged by automakers in the country for the coming years already total nearly 130 billion reais. The company, expects to produce as many as 150,000 vehicles per year at the Itirapina plant by 2030, up from 100,000 this year, for both sales in the domestic market and exports. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/ev6N4h6R

 Brazil and Mexico looking ahead at significant economic growth According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Standard Chartered released last week, the two countries are expected to experience significant economic growth within the next six years. Brazil and Mexico would thus make it into the top ten globally by 2030. With an estimated GDP of US$ 4.439 trillion, Brazil will rank eighth in the global ranking and will be the largest economy in South America. Mexico, meanwhile, will rank ninth with a projected GDP of US$ 3.661 trillion, the study showed. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/e94gZ5Ty