Brad Haynes News

The presidents of France and Brazil on Wednesday launched a submarine built in the South American country with French technology in a program that aims to build Brazil's first nuclear-powered submarine by the end of the decade.Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attended a ceremony in the Itaguai shipyard near Rio de Janeiro, launching the third diesel-powered submarine built in a $10 billion partnership.Brazil first lady Janja da Silva smashed a champagne…

A severe drought choking major rivers in the Amazon rainforest has disrupted ship traffic near the region's biggest city and pushed up costs for northern shipping routes, raising risks for corn exports in coming months.The unusual heat and dryness, linked to the mass deaths of fish and river dolphins, has already limited local communities'access to food and drinking water, leading the federal government to set up a humanitarian task force. Officials are now warning the thinning rivers could disrupt grains exports in the region."There is concern about shipping part of the corn harvest…

Brazil's right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro fired the chief executive of oil producer Petrobras - the second in two months - after the company refused to sell fuels at a discount to consumers warning it would lead to diesel shortages. Bolsonaro also called for the election of a new board, according to a statement released close to midnight local time on Monday by the state-controlled company, opening the way to a full executive management shake-up.José Mauro Ferreira Coelho is the third Petrobras CEO fired by Bolsonaro over fuel prices.

Hundreds of dredging rafts operated by illegal miners have gathered in a gold rush on the Madeira River, a major tributary of the Amazon, floating hundreds of miles as state and federal authorities dispute who is responsible for stopping them.The flotilla of rafts equipped with pumps are moored together in lines that nearly stretch across the vast Madeira, and a Reuters witness spotted plumes of exhaust indicating they are vacuuming the riverbed for gold."We counted no less than 300 rafts.

The Port of Paranaguá, Brazil's second busiest for soybean and sugar cargoes, is gradually resuming grain export operations after a fire that affected conveyor belts at two terminals, according to a statement from the port authority on Wednesday.Operations remain halted at the two affected terminals, connected to berths 212, 213 and 214, which form part of an export corridor comprising 11 terminals, the authority said.The belts at the two terminals struck by the fire were idle at the time it broke out…

Brazil has agreed to release water at the giant Itaipu hydroelectric dam to raise low water levels in the Parana River, a key thoroughfare for grains shipments, Argentina's Foreign Ministry said on Friday.Decade-low water levels on the Parana are forcing Argentine exporters to load less soy and other grains on ships bound largely for China, adding a new problem to a sector already beset by bottlenecks due to the coronavirus pandemic.The agreement with Brazil will allow for an additional 1,400 cubic meters of water flow to be added to the river, the ministry said in a statement.

China Merchants Group Ltd is in advanced talks to buy Advent International Corp's 50 percent stake in TCP Terminal de Contêineres de Paranaguá SA, Brazil's second-busiest container port, O Estado de S. Paulo newspaper said on Thursday. According to Estado, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the transaction, talks with the Chinese state-run company known as CMG gained momentum after Advent's negotiations with Dubai-based DP World Ltd hit a snag. Reuters reported in August that Advent had hired Morgan Stanley & Co and Grupo BTG Pactual SA to sell the TCP stake. Sources said at the time that Advent wanted to fetch a price for the stake that could set a minimum value of 3.5 billion reais ($1.1 billion) for TCP.

Brazil's Fibria Celulose SA , the world's largest producer of eucalyptus pulp, signed a $636 million shipping deal with South Korea's Pan Ocean Co Ltd, according to a securities filing on Friday.   The deal, approved by Fibria's board in November, involves a so-called "consecutive voyage contract" for five ships until 2035, with an option for the pulp maker to extend the deal by five or 10 years.   Reporting by Brad Haynes

Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Friday it plans to sell its rights to 104 onshore oil and gas concessions, part of efforts to raise cash and focus increasingly scarce capital on more profitable offshore assets. The company, known as Petrobras, said in a securities filing that 98 of the areas are producing fields. Oil output from those areas is about 35,000 barrels a day, or less than 2 percent of the company's petroleum output and less than some single wells in Petrobras' giant offshore Lula field. The Petrobras statement did not say how much natural gas the areas produce. Six of the areas are still in the exploratory phase. Small Brazilian and international oil companies have long called on the company to sell the bulk of its onshore oil and gas portfolio.

Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA extended a leave of absence for the head of its tanker and pipeline unit, Transpetro, for 30 more days according to a filing on Friday. Transpetro President Sergio Machado stepped down temporarily on November 3 as police investigated a corruption scandal at the company that has delayed the release of audited earnings, implicated an array of major contractors and threatened to ensnare dozens of politicians. (Reporting by Brad Haynes and Alberto Alerigi Jr.; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Reuters)

Petroleo Brasileiro SA resumed production on Monday from offshore oil platform P-20 in the Campos Basin, the state-run oil company known as Petrobras said in a securities filing. In December, a fire at the platform injured two workers and knocked it out of service. The rig's potential output is around 20,000 barrels of oil per day.   Reporting by Anna Flavia Rochas; Brad Haynes