Cuba’s Sugarcane Ethanol Potential : COHA

This a summary excerpt & conclusion regarding sugar cane production & more importantly, the potential impact of sugar-cane ethanol for the Cuban economy, by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)
“Central America and the Caribbean, historical sugar-producing economies where the sugar-ethanol infrastructure already has a foundation, labor costs are low, and the political conditions are more [...]

Sinopec makes strong move into lubricants … oh my !

SINOPEC Corp. held its first global lubricant distributors’ conference in Beijing, attended by over 100 partners from more than 30 countries.
The conference showed SINOPEC Lubricant’s opportunity, strength and aspiration to enter into the world market, and indicated SINOPEC Lubricant’s global market strategies for this new stage.
Mr. Zhang Jianhua, Senior Vice President of SINOPEC Corp. [...]

Ericsson scores managed services deal with Du

Ericsson & Emirates based operator du, have signed a three-year managed services agreement which will enable du to continue develop operational efficiency of nationwide GSM/WCDMA network operations.

The Ericsson (NYSE:ERIC) partnership provides UAE upstart du with a long-term sustainable operating model, reducing its operational expenses & enabling the operator to focus further on providing [...]

New finds in Mexican Gulf for Repsol / BHP

Repsol & partners BHP Billiton, Hess made two new finds in the Shenzi field  in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to a new pay found in the existing G104 well, Repsol found oil in the Shenzi-8 well, helping increase future production potential for the area, where output is already  is already above expectations.

Repsol [...]

New dawn for Kenya economy says IMF

The International Monetary Fund has forecast Kenya’s economy to improve gradually, saying it will grow by 2.7% this year.
A statement issued in Nairobi following the conclusion of a two-week visit to the East African nation said that economic performance is expected to improve gradually to 4% in 2010 and then growth rates [...]

Ringing the changes in mobile

The worldwide mobile phone market saw mild sequential growth in the third quarter (3Q09), according to IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker.
Year-on-year growth remained negative, but improved from the first half of 2009. Mobile phone shipments totaled 287.1 million units worldwide in 3Q09, down 6.0% from a year earlier, but up 5.6% from the second [...]

Phillipines garners upgrade from UBS

UBS has upgraded its growth outlook for the Philippines for next year alongside a modest global recovery and benign inflation prospects. UBS also sees a long-term bearish trend for the U.S. dollar, which in turn could fuel a peso appreciation against the greenback.
In a briefing on Thursday, UBS global economist Paul Donovan cautioned against overoptimism [...]

Time for a long term position in Brazil smallcap ETF

With the weakness in Brazil the past week, we are going to take this opportunity to begin a long-term stake in Market Vectors Brazil Small-Cap ETF : BRF.
We highlighted this name in the summer under $29 [Jun 2, 2009: Market Vectors Brazil Small Cap (BRF) - a New ETF for Exposure to Brazil] [...]

Asia Pac country ETFs jump on IMF upgrade

Asia Pacific ETFs posted big gains on Thursday following the release of updated growth projections from the International Monetary Fund which included upward revisions for the region for both this year and next.
The region as a whole – including Japan, Australia, and New Zealand – is expected to grow by 2.8% for 2009 and [...]

EBRD supporting Turkish agriculture

THE European bank for Reconstruction and Development recently announced that it will support the development of private businesses in the agriculture sector in Turkey with a credit line in Turkish lira for micro and small enterprises (MSEs).
Micro and small businesses represent a major part of the Turkish economy, accounting for a large proportion of [...]