Foreign tourists are expected to spend up to US$ 9.2 billion in Brazil in 2014 due to the soccer’s World Cup, to be held in 12 Brazilian cities. This is the most recent estimate by the Brazilian Tourism Institute (Embratur).
If this forecast is confirmed, visitors’ expenditures in the country shall represent an increase of 38.5% in relation to 2012, when foreigners injected US$ 6.6 billion in the Brazilian economy.
Embratur does not yet have the final figures for 2013, but up until November, visitors from other countries had spent US$ 6.13 billion in Brazil.
The Institute calculates that foreign tourists spent between US$ 6.6 billion and US$ 7.7 billion in the country during the last year as a whole.
Also according to the Embratur forecasts, a record seven million foreigners are expected to come to Brazil in 2014. This calculation is based on the fact that Brazil will host the World Cup, with games from June 12 to July 13 in the cities of Porto Alegre, Curitiba, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Cuiabá, Brasília, Manaus, Salvador, Fortaleza, Natal and Recife.
Oil Up
Brazil’s oil production increased by 1.8% in November 2013 in relation to the same month in the previous year and reached 2.081 million barrels per day. In relation to October, there was an increase of 0.1%.
According to the information released by the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP), the production of natural gas was of 79.1 million cubic meters per day in November, an increase of 7.8% over the same period in 2012, and 8.5% in comparison with October.
In November, Brazil produced 2.578 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), a measure that includes both oil and natural gas production. According to the ANP, oil production from the pre-salt layer was of 339.4 thousand barrels per day.
Natural gas in the pre-salt layer, in turn, reached 11.5 million cubic meters per day. The production of oil equivalent in the pre-salt layer was of 412 thousand boe/d, representing an increase of 10.8% over October 2013.
The ANP statement informs that approximately 91.7% of the Brazilian production of oil, and 71.8% of natural gas extraction come from sea fields. Areas operated by Petrobras, the Brazilian state-owned company in the sector, produced 92.1% of the Brazilian oil equivalent in November.
According to the ANP, the Marlim Sul field, at the Campos Basin in Rio de Janeiro, had the highest oil production in November: an average of 275.1 thousand barrels per day.
The Manati field, in turn, at the Camamu Basin, in the state of Bahia, was the greatest producer of natural gas, with an average of 6.2 million cubic meters per day.
From the total oil production in November, 10.5% was light density, 61.6% medium and 27.8% heavy oil. The API (unit that measures oil quality) for the November production was of 24.5°, that is, medium oil. The lighter the oil, the higher is it’s value.
Primary Surplus Met
The Brazilian Central Government primary surplus (Central Bank, National Treasury and Social Security) in 2013 reached approximately R$ 75 billion (US$ 31.5 billion), stated Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega.
The primary surplus is the saving of resources to pay off interests of the public debt. The target set by the Government for 2013 was of R$ 73 billion (US$ 30.6 billion). Traditionally, the result is released by the National Treasury at the end of each month, but, this time, the minister anticipated the announcement.
Originally, the Budget Directives Act (LDO) established the surplus target at 3.1% of the federal, state and municipal GDP in 2013. Later, the government launched mechanisms that allowed for cost reductions with the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) and revenues that didn’t come in due to exemptions, and revised the target to 2.3% of the GDP, that is R$ 110.9 billion (US$ 46.5 billion).
At the end of November, the National Congress approved an amendment to the LDO exempting the Federal Government from compensating target underachievement by state and municipal governments.
In November last year, there was a record public sector primary surplus, after a weak result in October. One of the contributing factors for a better result in November was allowing for special installment payments plans for banks, insurance companies and Brazilian multinationals, which renegotiated late taxes and drove up Government revenues.
The bonus paid for signing the Libra oil field bid, in Brazil’s pre-salt layer, also helped drive the primary surplus.
Cars Down
Car sales in the internal Brazilian market decreased by 2.29% in 2013, in comparison to 2012, reaching 5.458 million units during the year. The drop was driven by the low performance of the automobile sector, with a reduction of 3.05% in comparison with the previous year.
Sales of trucks and buses, on the other hand, increased in average 14.36%, according to the National Federation of Motor Vehicle Distributors (Fenabrave).
In spite of the reduction, the performance in December was good, with an increase by 16.03% in relation to November, and stable in comparison with December 2012. In the last month of the year, many consumers anticipated their vehicle purchases, with the expectation of a gradual reduction in the Industrialized Product Tax (IPI) discounts.
