Brazil’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the sum of all goods and services produced in the country – increased by 1.4% in the first quarter of 2006, in comparison to the last quarter in 2005.
The positive result was influenced by the growth of industry (1.7%), agriculture and livestock (1.1%) and of services (0.8%). In relation to the first quarter in 2005, the increase was of 3.4%.
The information is part of the Report of Quarterly National Accounts released today by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics (IBGE).
Thermoelectric Plant
The Governador Leonel Brizola Thermoelectric Plant was inaugurated this Wednesday, May 31, in Campos Elíseos, district in the city of Duque de Caxias, in the southeastern Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.
Built together with the Duque de Caxias Refinery (Reduc), TermoRio has the capacity of producing 1,040 MW.
The start of operations will allow the state of Rio de Janeiro, which up until 1999 imported about 60% of the electrical power consumed, to have a surplus of 20% in its capacity of generating electricity in relation to consumption.
The investment in building the plant, the largest natural gas powered thermoelectric plant in the country, was of US$ 740 million.
Soy Production
Paraná state, the second largest producer of soy, in the south of Brazil, is going to host, between June 5 and 8, in the city of Londrina, the fourth edition of the Brazilian Soy Congress.
The meeting is promoted by the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) and should bring together 1,200 participants from Brazil, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina and Paraguay.
The objective of the meeting is to discuss the sector challenges, from production technologies to logistics and trade of the crop. Annual exports of the soy complex total US$ 10 billion, approximately 14% of Brazilian exports.
ABr, Anba