Caroline Kahl

A Vale que impressiona

292 million metric tons of minerals exploited and produced (Iron Ore, Aluminium, Bauxite, Manganese, Copper, Potash ect).
USD 7 billion in exports, record volume and growth rate of 26.9%.
Biggest privately owned exporter in Brazil.
Responsible for 68% of Brazil´s total railway cargo, 27% port cargo.
Whom am I speaking about: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce and their "hot" commodity Iron Ore.
Many people promise to sell it to you, most of them are fakes.
You want Vale Iron Ore - line up and you may be attended in 2010.
Otherwise look out for small companies and mines which sell Iron Ore to you. And there are a few....

Emergency Package

If you are consultant and broker dealing with Brazilian commodities, sooner or later you will face the challenging situation to explain to your foreign clients why their contract partners for Brazilian products like Sugar, Soy. Wheat, Corn etc. are foreign investment companies. And then you tell them how the agricultural sector is struggling to survive with the minimum required investments into infrastructure or covering simple operational costs of harvesting, production, refining, sales and distribution. One solution for a country with astronomic interest rates and spreads is the so called CPR -Cedula de Produto Rural Financeira, an anticipated sale of the future harvest output and production to obtain working capital. Who buys those titles mostly? Foreign Investors! Who deal with them? Brazilian banks.
Nevertheless the Brazilian government just announced on Friday to release an emergency package of up to R$ 14,6 billion to help the sector commercialize their products, pay their debts and provide private and public banks with funds to finance the sector.
Good idea, even when interest rates will still account for 8,75% p.a as part of the deal.
At least the government of the world´s 11th biggest economy keeps an eye on a sector which contributes with more than 8,4% to the country´s GDP and has a lot more growth rate potential...

Sugar

about a "Young Lady" and sugar.
Canaviais já fervilham em busca de recordes.

Homage...

to my dear sugar provider who helped me attending a really difficult client in endless nightshifts. Messieurs Les Présidents, the ones who deserve a special wink through msn on Friday night at 21.45h. The one and only. Watch out for more sugar to come!!!!

Kicking you in your a..

Fake brokers in the world, faked LOIs and BCLs and other documents, working 24/7 to make a deal happen, sacrificing social life in paradise city called Rio de Janeiro. So much more to write about Life and Business in Brazil, but day to day work just absorbes your energy... and your newspaper pile keeps rising. Making clients understand the meaning of a POP and having to push my dear Brazilian providers... Making a homage to a dear business associate in Malaysia called Selvi, an admirable strong woman. Feels like wantin´ to go on flight SU 188. Enjoy this flight on commodities...Download 04_flight_su118_soda_inc. - Full Moon.mp3

About Brazilian Traders

Do you remember the film New Jack City and its famous phrase?
Live fast, die young and in between get as much money and sex as you can.
Make that S for sugar and M for minério de ferro in this country, and you will get money and die rich and... young. Crashing!
Just had an interesting conversation with my business partner on POP and POF exchange (look up those comex terms) when it comes to s... ;-)
Will be back shortly on the usual posting level, quality and quantity wise speaking, without S.G.S. certificate though and no CIF delivery to ASWP. Sorry. Times are just 2 crazy right now....

No time to waste

Posting low these days, partially due to the fact that business in Brazil only commences after Carnaval is over and this week everybody got back to work, and because the sugar harvest and marketing period just started.
You know what the funny thing about Brazilian commodity trading is?
Some foreign brokers contacting you, inquirying about million sugar Icumsa 45 deals, Iron Ore, all the hot commodities from Brazil, and... most of them operating from freemail accounts like hotmail, yahoo, gmail, gmx. You guys pretend to have so potential clients and cannot afford a proper email adress and domain?
Mmmhhhh.... I google after you and your companies with no search results?
Most of Brazilian commodities are in the hand of foreign investment companies and tradings?  Mmhhhh.... Strange feeling.
But anyway, if you are serious and do not inflate commissions, we can make business, otherwise you go right away to my junk mail folder. No time to waste.

Gates and Sugar

Yesterday I wrote about Google and Sugar. Seems that Larry and Sergey are not the only ones interested in promising investments and in the Brazilian alcohol indstry. Bill Gates is also in it. His investment company Cascade Investment is major shareholder of Pacific Ethanol, which is looking at expanding their businesses in ... Brazil! If you want to google after Bill´s investments, somebody did that for you already: Bill Gates and his companies.

Google and Sugar

Guess who was spotted on Sunday in São Paulo coming straight from Davos: Senhores Google!
Guess whom they visited (besides their Brazilian subsidiaries): Cosan, one of Brazil´s leading sugar and alcohol plants/manufacturers.
Not the first foreigners who show an interest in this market with such spectacular growth rates. Brazil is one of the top suppliers of the world.
Guess what happens if one day the EU stops subsidising its sugar industry and Brazilian sugar enters that market? Brazil expects to conquer 40% of that piece of the sugar-pie. And let us not forget the rising demand for alcohol as alternative fuel, here and abroad. Brazil's carmakers sold more vehicles adapted to run on alcohol last year than conventional petrol-driven models.

But experiences showed: it is not hard to identify and cooperate with suppliers here in Brazil, identifying trustworthy and serious sellers abroad is much more difficult. But propbably as challenging as any market which involves so much $$$.