Antitrust watchdog approves Oi Móvel sale to trio of giant telecoms

Brazil's antitrust regulator CADE — Foto: Valor
Brazil’s antitrust regulator CADE — Foto: Valor

During a tense session that lasted almost four hours on Wednesday, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) approved the sale of Oi Móvel to Telefônica (owner of Vivo), TIM and Claro, joined in alliance. The approval for the operation is followed by severe measures to preserve competition, such as the obligation of telecoms to sell half of the base transceiver stations (ERBs, or antennas) they will receive from Oi.

Telefonica’s CEO Christian Gebara told Valor that Oi Móvel remains an attractive business, despite the imposition of stronger-than-expected remedies. “The remedies presented by Anatel and CADE´s General Superintendence were already strong enough and adequate for the operation,” said Mr. Gebara.

The transaction was approved with the determination that “remedies” are applied before the deal is completed. This is part of an Agreement on Merger Control (ACC) negotiated between the antitrust agency and the buyers.

For Oi, the sale of the asset will generate the resources necessary for the execution of the company’s new strategic plan, said the president of Oi, Rodrigo Abreu, in a statement. The mobile services unit was sold in a judicial auction in December 2020 for R$16.5 billion.

Among the various aspects cited by Oi as important with this transaction, is the feasibility of reducing its debt, “being the main source of cash to pay bankruptcy and extra-bankruptcy creditors, among which are BNDES, Anatel, the Banco do Brasil and Caixa Econômica Federal, in addition to enabling the maintenance of the other activities of the company’s recovery process.” Net debt stood at R$29.9 billion in the third quarter of 2021.

The endorsement of the deal shows that in the struggle between the trio of teles on one side, and on the other, several regional and incoming operators, such as Algar Telecom and Copel/Sercomtel, the giants won by force. Controlled by the Bordeaux fund, led by businessman Nelson Tanure, Copel gave up the fight, said CEO Wendell Oliveira.

The owner of Vivo will pay an estimated amount of R$5.5 billion for its share in the business. According to the CEO, Telefônica has more than enough cash to sustain the operation.

Mr. Gebara said at the moment he does not have information on the impact of the revenue from the assets of Oi Móvel for Telefônica, since the revenue from the company’s customers will only be accounted for in its group after the closing of the deal.

Telefônica will also receive around 10 million customers, most of them in the Northeast region, where it has a lower market share and excess capacity, and in the state of Paraná.

About how much this asset will add to Vivo’s revenue, the executive preferred not to anticipate. He said there are many issues still to be resolved upon closing the deal.

“Oi’s customers will be well received,” said Mr. Gebara, adding that they will be able to count on Vivo’s entire product portfolio. They will even be able to browse the internet at a frequency of 700 megahertz, for 4G, and on 5G — Oi does not have any of them.

“It is the end of a long regulatory and competitive approval process, which allows for an important rearrangement of the sector, with more services and competition for the consumer,” said the executive about the approval of the antitrust body.

According to calculations made by a source that follows the sale of the asset, the division between the telcos is done, but may be updated. From the value of the deal, TIM will pay 44.3%, Vivo (33.7%) and Claro (22%).

Of the number of Oi’s clients, TIM will keep 14.5 million (40%); Vivo, 10.5 million (29%) and Claro, 11.6 million (31%).

Of the infrastructure part, TIM will have 7,500 ERBs (50%), Vivo 2,700 (18%) and Claro 4,700 (31%).

TIM will receive 54% of the spectrum (49 MHz) and Vivo, 46% (43 MHz). Claro, which already reached the limit established by Anatel when bought Nextel, won’t take anything in this operation.

Oi’s common shares and preferred closed in fall in B3.

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com

/by

Brazil resists to enhanced trade partnership with the UK

Brazil already sells products such as meat to the UK, but wishes to extend range — Foto: Anna Carolina Negri/Valor

The United Kingdom made a proposal for an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) to Brazil, but the Foreign Affairs Ministry, known as Itamaraty, and the Ministry of Economy were disappointed with its terms and resist taking these negotiations forward. For the Jair Bolsonaro administration, the offer is unbalanced and contemplates the interests of London, but ignores the main demands on the Brazilian side to increase exports to the British market.

As diplomatic sources explained to Valor, Brasília was interested in opening negotiations for a free trade agreement, but the United Kingdom gave several reasons to reject the possibility. There would be a lack of people in the technical area to remake a network of post-Brexit trade agreements and uncertainties about the Mercosur’s dispositions. This year, for example, marks the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War — a sensitive topic in Argentine politics. In Brazil, the presidential elections reinforce doubts about the future of the customs union.

On the other hand, the British expressed their intention of an Enhanced Commercial Partnership, where it would be possible to negotiate what they called “low-hanging fruits”. London initially considered an announcement about the launch of negotiations on 31 January.

The divergence over the partnership’s coverage radius, however, made this attempt unfeasible. The Itamaraty considered the British proposal unacceptable. The economic team also made criticisms, but is still trying to find some ways that allow it to evolve.

In addition to the simplification of customs procedures, which is an initiative that both sides approve, other points presented by the United Kingdom were: greater access to financial services and higher education, government procurement (opening in public tenders) and “life sciences” (term little used in commercial jargon, which was understood in Brasília as the entire area of medicines and the protection of patents related to these products).

The Brazilian government’s major complaint is about London’s refusal to include sanitary and phytosanitary measures at the table of discussions. The UK imports around 70% of the food it consumes. About half of that comes from its former partners in the European Union.

Even with Brexit, these countries continue to have a zero rate to export to the British market. However, many producers in the EU had already become so unaccustomed to customs procedures – because of the common market – that they prefer not to mess with all the bureaucracy of foreign trade and end up not exporting.

This was seen as an opportunity, in theory, for greater participation of Brazilian food in the country. Brazil already sells products such as meat, fruits and nuts, juices, and roasted coffee to the local market. However, producers face restrictive quotas to export chicken meat to the UK. There is no access for pork, fish and dairy products.

What irritates the Brazilian government most are the barriers for meat. The British inherited rules from the EU, which was interpreted in Brasilia as something reasonable at first, given the complexity of designing new rules. Years after the Brexit, however, the Itamaraty and the Ministry of Economy believe that there was already time to reformulate sanitary measures.

One of the complaints concerns the so-called pre-listing system, by which a slaughterhouse receives immediate approval to export without the need for prior individual inspections, unit by unit. The EU had a pre-listing system with Brazil, but it was suspended in 2017, as a reflection of Operation Weak Meat.

The Europeans kept the prior inspections, but the UK no longer has the obligation to follow EU rules and the Brazilian government argues that that episode is over. It also protests against the existence of a control by sampling of all batches of meat that arrive in the country.

In the evaluation of authorities in Brasilia, if there is an expanded trade partnership with unbalanced results and privileging issues of interest to the United Kingdom, the British will completely lose their appetite for negotiating a free trade agreement in the future. There are also complaints that, while refusing to discuss agriculture with Brazil, London has concluded a treaty with Australia and New Zealand – two major food producers – that covers these points.

For a British government source, the criticism is unfair because those sanitary and phytosanitary measures are regulated by an independent agency and cannot be negotiated in this way. The source also mentions that India had an ETP-type partnership with UK and then started negotiating free trade.

“We have a window to move forward in the coming months and Brazil should not look at this as a zero-sum game. It is just a start,” says this source.

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com

/by

Asset managers increase criticism of the Bolsonaro administration

Asset Management: o que é e como utilizar nos ativos

The Jair Bolsonaro administration reached its last year resorting to “cheap electoral populism”, “totally irresponsible” and reminiscent of the “worst practices of the PT [Workers Party] government”. This is the assessment of the monthly letter to clients of Verde Asset Management, headed by Luis Stuhlberger. In the report entitled “Economic Flat Earth Theory”, chief economist Daniel Leichsenring states that, in virtually all areas of activity, “what was seen was a disaster.”

He cites the “deliberate attitude of postponing the immunization and insistently acted against it”. In the economic sphere, he says, “we saw a Ministry of Economy working on a forced march to destroy the spending cap, in partnership with the president” and other allies. The economist recalls the “meteor” of the so-called “precatórios” (court-ordered payments, postponed by a new law to avoid breaking the spending cap), the “complete destruction” of the credibility of the cap and the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF), amended to accommodate spending on electoral funds and congressional earmarks, “under the lame excuse of serving the poorest with the [new cash-transfer program] Auxílio Brasil”.

From 2021 to 2022, there could be “some scope to imagine that the worst was behind us,” says the economist. “Great mistake. In an effort to try to reverse the absolute unpopularity of his government, behold, the president reveals an infallible plan: to reduce taxation on fuel and electricity.”

In his assessment, the idea of eliminating fuel taxes “is a complete madness” and “can’t resist a minute of considerations about its quality”. Mr. Leichsenring also notes that the idea is based on the “shocking justification” that there is excess revenue. Verde estimates a nominal deficit close to R$730 billion in 2022, and could reach R$800 billion, at least, with the exemption. Debt would rise to 85% in 2022 from 80.3% of GDP in 2021. “Of course, given this dynamic, the interest rate will end up snowballing,” he stated.

With the return of high interest rates and foreigner investors to the Brazilian stock market, the market’s natural reaction, however, is not taking place, according to Mr. Leichsenring. He says he hopes that people will realize that the path traced by the government “will be as disastrous for the economy as the one implemented in the PT government.” For him, there is still time “to find a viable political alternative for Brazil”.

The Verde Asset team’s explicit disappointment is increasingly finding resonance among asset managers. As they take care of third-party money, political developments in the macroeconomic scenario are followed up with diligence, as they are part of the fiduciary duty of these professionals and worth a result in the quota.

The perception is that Mr. Leishsenrig translated a feeling that is becoming increasingly widespread in the asset management segment. “Today, a new Bolsonaro government means the continuity of this fiscal mess and with a chance of getting worse because the government is clinging to power,” says the CEO of a specialized asset management. Economy Minister Paulo Guedes, who took over a ministry with superpowers in 2019, is today evaluated as good at rhetoric, but bad at work, always blaming a third party, continues the manager. “He gave himself totally, showed that he is there for power”.

Although the cards of the electoral game are not all on the table because the candidacies have not been defined, there are those who believe that a “remake” of the Bolsonaro government would mean the depreciation of the so-called “Brazil kit”– with devaluation of shares, the real and high interest rates. term, a thermometer for country risk – more than any other candidate that proves to be capable of being elected.

The approach of former president Lula da Silva to the ex-governor of São Paulo Geraldo Alckmin, if materialized, would make impossible the ascension of a third name, so desired by the market, but would bring a more central hue to the left wing of the Workers Party. The flow of foreign capital into Brazilian stocks in the first month of the year is a sign that foreign investors are more willing to see Mr. Lula da Silva return than to face a second Bolsonaro term, as Rogério Xavier, founding partner of SPX, said in a recent presentation.

In Brazil, investors are usually net bought in local assets because the government is the big issuer of fixed income, and companies, of stocks, says Sylvio Castro, founding partner of Grimper. At the beginning of Mr. Bolsonaro’s term, there was a perception that the overhaul agenda initiated by the team of former president Michel Temer would continue and that it would be a fiscalist government, he says.

He sees the inflow of foreign capital at the beginning of the year as a punctual rebalancing of investors’ portfolios, but believes that this flow tends to lose pace, returning to the menu of low GDP, high interest rates and strengthening of the dollar prices, with companies and families paying the bill.

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com

/by

Brazil’s Petrobras met output goals in 2021

Rio de Janeiro – Brazil-based oil company Petrobras announced on Thursday (9) it met all its output goals established for 2021, posting several record numbers, including pre-salt results, with an annual average 1.95 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, accounting for 70% of the company’s total output.

“Our pre-salt production has been growing fast, and the record high posted is more than twice the volume we used to produce in this layer five years ago,” Petrobras chief production development officer João Henrique Rittershaussen said.

“The magnitude of these results shows Petrobras’ commitment to meeting its goals and its focus on deep- and ultradeep-water assets, which have shown a large competitive edge by producing low-cost, high-quality oil with low greenhouse gas emissions,” the company’s chief exploration & production officer, Fernando Assumpção Borges, said.

Petrobras also highlighted 2021’s 8.5% growth in oil derivative sales from 2020, with an emphasis on the increase of gasoline, diesel and jet kerosene sales, which was mainly due to the heavy impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on sales back in 2020. Year on year there was also smaller third-party gasoline and diesel imports, thus resulting in an increase of the company’s market share.

Petrobras posted an annual record high of S-10 diesel sales and output in 2021, thus ensuring better environmental and economic results for users. Sales of S-10 diesel increased by 34.7%, while output was up 10%.

Translated by Guilherme Miranda

Source: NewsNow

https://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Business+&+Finance/Economy/International/Brazil

/by

Minerva starts monitoring 100% of cattle suppliers in Paraguay

Minerva Foods - YouTube

Minerva Foods, the largest beef exporter in South America, announced it became the first company in the segment to monitor 100% of its cattle suppliers in Paraguay.

In the Paraguayan Chaco, Minerva claims to have more than 3,000 supplier farms. In the region, it already has 11.8 million hectares mapped through the SMGeo system, developed by NicePlanet Geotechnology based on satellite images.

In Brazil, the company has been monitoring its direct suppliers since 2020 and is now concentrating efforts and technologies to broaden its focus on indirect suppliers. Controlling the practices of indirect suppliers has proved to be the biggest challenge for meatpackers in the country, but Minerva Foods has also obtained positive results on this front.

As already reported by Valor, in an audit carried out from January 2018 to June 2019, the Federal Prosecution Service of Pará attested that no cattle purchased by the company in the state in the period came from areas with illegal deforestation after 2008 or overlapping indigenous lands and units of conservation, of properties embargoed by Ibama or without Rural Environmental Registry (CAR) and of farms with labor analogous to slavery.

Adding up the Brazilian and Paraguayan biomes, the area monitored by the company totals 26 million hectares. And the goal for the coming years is to reach 100% coverage in the other South American countries where it operates. In Colombia, where it has more than 3 thousand direct suppliers, the goal is 2023; in Uruguay (1.8 thousand suppliers), 2025; and in Argentina (1.5 thousand suppliers), 2030.

In the region’s neighbors, Minerva’s businesses are gathered in the subsidiary Athena Foods, which in the third quarter of last year earned R$4.4 billion, an amount that represented 56% of the Brazilian company’s total gross revenue.

Added to all operations, exports usually represent around 70% of Minerva’s business, which accounts for around 20% of South American beef shipments.

In general, Minerva’s efforts are in line with its goals of eliminating illegal deforestation in its supply chain by 2030 and of achieving zero net carbon emissions by 2035. In this work, planned investments are on the order of R$1,5 billion.

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com

/by

Mater Dei buys Bahia’s Emec Hospital for R$200m

Henrique Salvador — Foto: Pedro Vilela/Agencia i7
Henrique Salvador — Foto: Pedro Vilela/Agencia i7

The Mater Dei hospital network is buying 95% of Emec, the largest private hospital in Feira de Santana (state of Bahia), for around R$200 million. This is the group’s second acquisition in the first 40 days of the year. In January, the network disbursed almost R$250 million for Hospital Premium, in Goiânia (state of Goiás).

Since its IPO, in April last year, Mater Dei has already made six acquisitions totaling around R$2 billion. The resources come from its IPO in April, when the company raised R$ 1.6 billion, in addition to cash generation. In October, the chain approved a R$700 million debenture issue that will help in the expansion process.

The strategy of this new transaction is to integrate Emec with the new Mater Dei unit, in Salvador, which is in the final stage of construction and will be inaugurated in May. “We want to create a regional hub, integrating the two hospitals to gain efficiency and complementarity. The distance between the two hospitals is 100 km, about one hour. It is common for doctors to work in Salvador and Feira de Santana,” said Mater Dei CEO Henrique Salvador.

Considering the two hospitals, Mater Dei will have about 520 beds in Bahia. Emec has 126 beds, with an expected expansion to reach 150 inpatient units. Last year, the hospital recorded net revenue of R$130 million. Mater Dei is paying R$1.3 million per bed, a level below the market average.

Salvador and Feira de Santana are among the cities with the highest volume of health plan users in the Northeast region. Among the consolidator groups, only Rede D’Or has a hospital in Feira de Santana.

A reference in Minas Gerais, Mater Dei has been diversifying its presence in the country. In July, it made its largest acquisition: the purchase of Porto Dias Hospital, in Pará, in a transaction that involved the payment of R$800 million and shares (equivalent to 7% of the capital of Mater Dei) – totaling a R$1.3 billion deal.

In November, Mater Dei bought Hospital Santa Genoveva, in Uberlândia (state of Minas Gerais), for around R$310 million.

Considering the new units and acquisitions, the Mater Dei network now has 2,700 hospital beds. In Brazil, there are few hospital groups. It is still a very fragmented sector, with most hospitals having less than 150 inpatient units.

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com

/by

Favela Holding creates R$50m venture capital fund for startups

Favela Holding cria fundo de capital de risco de R$ 50 mi

At the age of 14, Celso Athayde’s task was to help his mother take other children from the Favela do Sapo, in Rio de Janeiro’s west zone, to the beach in exchange for payment. The informal business, called “Mãe Praieira”, gave parents the tranquility to go out to work without the fear of leaving their children home alone. “What my mother sold was credibility, reputation. Today, I would invest in her project,” says the CEO of Favela Holding, who is launching a venture capital fund of R$ 50 million for startups in the slums.

The initiative is a spin-off of a pioneering fund announced in December 2016 and launched in February of the following year. Of the 22 companies that currently make up Favela Holding, 10 are the result of these investments. The successful track record led to the decision to launch, five years later, the Favelas Fundos on the same day as its predecessor — February, 8. “Although it is not part of the official calendar, we consider the date as the National Day of Favela Entrepreneurship,” says Mr. Athayde.

Of the R$50 million planned, R$20 million will be available immediately: 13 holding companies will invest an average of R$1 million each. The rest will come from Favela Holding CEO’s own resources and from businessman and investor Evanildo Barros Júnior, who works in the marketing and technology sector and has experience in structuring companies. The remaining R$30 million have already been provisioned and will be invested later.

To apply for financing, the entrepreneurs will fill out a form available on the Internet. The CEOs of the companies of Favela Holding will select startups from various segments that are in one of three stages of maturity.

The idea is to concentrate investments in startup companies that are already operating, or companies that have reached a more mature stage and need to accelerate operations. The authors of projects in an initial stage, which have not yet left the paper, will be directed to an eight-month entrepreneurship course. The amount of the contributions will depend on the characteristics of the company and stage of the business.

Besides the amount, the difference between the previous fund, of R$ 3 million, and the one being launched now is that this time the initiative is more structured in terms of management and market approach, says Mr. Athayde. For the first time, most (75%) of the resources came from the entrepreneur himself, who reinvested the money obtained from the sale of his participation in Avante, a microcredit startup.

Professional management of the resources and speaking the language of the investors is fundamental to carry out the proposal of creating more businesses in the slums, he says. “In the communities, everyone finds a way to get by, everyone is creative, but there are opportunities that the residents themselves don’t realize.”

Founder of Central Única das Favelas (Cufa), Mr. Athayde left the organization in 2015 to create Favela Holding, which has different partners for each company. Among them are companies such as Comunidade Door, of billboards; Data Favela, of research; and Favela Log, of distribution and delivery of products.

Mr. Athayde knows well how favelas operate. Between the ages of six and twelve, after his parents separated, he lived under a bridge in Madureira, in Rio’s north zone, with his mother and brother, who was murdered. Later, he worked as a street vendor, joined the hip hop movement, and was one of the founders of Cufa.

Last month, Mr. Athayde became the winner of the Social Impact and Innovation Entrepreneur Award granted by the Schwab Foundation, linked to the World Economic Forum. The award is scheduled to next May during the Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Before that, Mr. Athayde will announce his next project: Expo Favela, scheduled to take place between April 15 and 17 at the World Trade Center in São Paulo. The idea is to gather entrepreneurs and investors in the same space, promote lectures, meetings, and a business fair. The information provided by the candidates to Favelas Fundos will help to select the exhibitors, he informs. “We will have people from the favela and the asphalt, in the audience and on the stage”.

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com

/by

Distributed generation law expected to create ‘gold rush’

Camila Ramos — Foto: Leonardo Rodrigues / Valor
Camila Ramos — Foto: Leonardo Rodrigues / Valor

President Jair Bolsonaro early January signed into law the legal framework for local energy generation, the so-called distributed generation. It generated urgency in the development of new projects in Brazil. The sector foresees a “gold rush” this year to guarantee the use of the distributors network, the so-called Tusd. The haste is explained because the new regulation establishes that the ventures that request connection to the network up to 12 months after the law was signed off will not pay for this connection fee during 23 years.

The Brazilian Association of Distributed Generation (ABGD) predicts that the sector can reach 100% growth in 2022, with injection of up to 8 gigawatts (GW) of installed capacity and investments of approximately R$35 billion in the year.

A feasibility study by consultancy Clean Energy Latin America (Cela) in the concession areas of 25 distributors showed that photovoltaic solar generation projects installed on the roofs of consumers themselves will continue to be advantageous even with changes in tariffs in the coming years. However, the scenario is different for remote distributed generation projects, in which the customer contracts the service of a company that builds solar farms in the concession area of the same distributor, in exchange for a discount on the energy tariff.

The consultancy shows that remote generation projects that request access until January 2023 will remain competitive, but some initiatives will become more restricted over the years, especially in the case of plants with a capacity above 500 kilowatts (kW). “There will be a huge demand for new projects in the next 12 months, as everyone will want to conform to the old law. This year we will see, by far, the largest volume of new distributed generation projects in Brazil,” says the consultancy’s CEO Camila Ramos.

Cela’s study shows that the new rules may impact the ability of remote generation projects to offer discounts on regulated tariffs, mainly in regions of the states of Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, and Tocantins. According to Ms. Ramos, companies will need to pay more attention to strategic planning, in addition to seeking to become familiar themselves with the regulatory framework and tariff calculations to proceed with the implementation of projects with the new rules.

“From now on, it will be more important in the companies’ strategy to define the location and size of projects. Consumers in some states will have more viable projects than in others,” says Ms. Ramos.

About 80% of the investment planned for 2022 in the sector will be in microgeneration, below 75 kW, a consumer profile that has been consolidated in Brazil for years, according to ABGD. “It is better to install [a photovoltaic system] this year because we will have a better compensation condition. Yes, there will be a race for the sun,” says the association’s executive president, Guilherme Chrispim.

Cela’s CFO, Marília Rabassa, recalls that the payback periods for investments in distributed generation vary according to the tariff in each region and the incidence of solar radiation.

In this context, large banks and investment funds have shown greater interest in the segment, despite the rise in interest rates. This is the case of Itaú BBA, which has operations that total more than R$1 billion. The bank has seen demand for financing in the sector grow, according to the head of energy in the project finance area, Allan Batista. “Now we have a framework, we know the modeling, how to assess risk and scenarios. That sensitivity brings a little more appetite in terms of credit and investments,” he says.

Mr. Batista believes that the 12-month window after the landmark legislation can bring above-average investments. He highlights that the current volatility in interest rates is not likely to inhibit investors in the sector, who tend to have a long-term view. “We see delays in projects and a lot of cost overruns due to [prices of] commodities. We have a break-even dynamic this year: on the one hand, we have a time lag to have a greater benefit in 2022, and on the other hand, this extra cost,” he says.

The sector has experienced a strong movement in search of resources in recent months. Meu Financiamento Solar, Banco BV’s financing platform, provides for R$1 billion per month in operations this year.

Evolua Energia, a company based in Minas Gerais that started operating in 2020, raised R$123 million in August last year, through the issuance of a real estate receivables certificate (CRI), advised by Banco Modal. The company intends to carry out a similar new issuance, in addition to using its own cash to finance the expansion of the current generation capacity to 90 MW from 32 MW by the end of the year. According to the company’s CEO, Tarcísio Neves, the capacity could double in 2023, with the acceleration of the implementation of projects requesting access to the network in the coming months.

Evolua’s idea is to expand its operations beyond Minas Gerais, with new projects in the Northeast region. “We are accelerating the request for access opinions in 2022 to ensure the continuity of the implementation of the parks. Thus, we will develop a portfolio of projects now to support new investments in plants in 2023 and 2024 with current conditions”, explains Mr. Neves.

Mr. Chrispim, with ABGD, states, however, that there are possible obstacles to the growth of distributed generation in Brazil this year, such as the difficulty of expanding the skilled workforce, which has already affected the deadlines of some projects. Other factors, such as exchange rates, freight costs, rising commodities, high global demand, and an election year will continue to put pressure on the sector. “We had recent global inflation and everything went up. This movement already happened in 2021 and now we see that the price has stopped going up but is not going down. There is an expectation of stability, but not of reduction,” he says.

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com

/by

NOOA expands plant, seeks new markets in agribusiness

NOOA - Typeface on Behance

NOOA Science and Agricultural Technology will invest R$42 million to expand the capacity of its bio-inputs factory, located in Patos de Minas (state of Minas Gerais). Founded in 2016, the company has already invested R$100 million in research and currently delivers biological solutions for the cultivation of corn but intends to launch biological solutions for other crops as well.

According to Claudio Nasser, president of the company, the purpose of NOAA’s innovations is to rebalance the ecosystem of crops, a primary step for the improvement of Brazilian agriculture, he says. “It is important to bring back [to crops] some microorganisms so that we can reduce the use of pesticides that no longer do the same control as before,” he explains.

Son of an executive that worked for Sementes Agroceres in the 1960s and 1970s, Mr. Nasser has breathed the air of agribusiness since he was a child. Today, he holds 50% of NOOA, among other family-controlled businesses. Of the total investment in the expansion, 70% will be made with its own capital and the rest with loans.

After the expansion is concluded in June this year, the company plans to substitute part of the volume of products delivered today by suppliers.

One of the company’s bets is a bacterium that helps corn to survive the “veranicos” (periods of 15 to 30 days of intense heat and lack of rain). “It is the great innovation we have brought so far,” says Mr. Nasser.

The solution does not solve the prolonged drought, he points out, but if there are normal rainfall regimes and a 30-day window of drought, the bacteria helps to prevent productivity losses. “Soil is important to maintain productivity and so is keeping soils from becoming desertified,” he says

Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), which is a NOAA partner, isolated the Bacillus aryabhattai bacterium from research with cacti from the Agreste region, in the Northeast of the country. The microorganism helps plants to root up to 2.5 meters deep into the soil (the common is between 30 and 40 cm) in search of water and nutrients.

“Our research indicates that it will be useful in other crops as well,” continues Mr. Nasser, reminding that, despite the years of research and solutions developed, “no one can work miracles.” The role of the farmer, increasingly receptive to biological solutions, is fundamental for the effectiveness of product application and the timely progress of the crops.

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com

/by

Pix’s acceptance reaches record level in January

Seguro-PIX: bancos oferecem proteção em caso de sequestro | 1 Bilhão | iG

The acceptance of Central Bank´s instant-payment system Pix as a means of payment in the largest online stores in the country reached a record level of 64.4% in January, according to a study by consultancy Gmattos, obtained by Valor. A year ago, this percentage was only 16.9%. If the growth rate is maintained, it is possible that, in the coming months, the instant payment instrument will reach or even surpass banking bar-coded bills known as “boletos” in the ranking of the most available payment methods in e-commerce.

Today, Pix, launched in November 2020 by the Central Bank, occupies the third position on the list, behind credit cards (accepted in 98.3% of stores) and boletos (74.6% accepted). The study, conducted since January 2021, analyzed 59 online stores, which together account for 85% of the country’s e-commerce.

Co-founder and CEO of Gmattos, Gastão Mattos explains that the advance of Pix does not necessarily mean that there will be a drop in the acceptance of boletos. “In contact with the stores, we realized that the boleto fills a necessary space. A part of the people would stay on the margin of consumption without this option.”

The level of boleto penetration in e-commerce remained relatively stable throughout the year. Research shows that, so far, the more affected means of payment was, in fact, debt. The modality was available by 37.3% of the brands analyzed in January 2021, a level that dropped to 30.5% last month. “Pix is beating debt because the usability is much better in e-commerce”, says Mr. Mattos.

According to Mr. Mattos, the acceptance of Pix in e-commerce could reach that of the boleto in the coming months, possibly until May. It is necessary to consider, however, that from now on the growth of the modality tends to slow down. “There are already 120 million keys enabled and this is the main subject of this industry. If the store hasn’t put this option in place yet, it’s probably because they have some non-trivial difficulty in doing it.”

In his view, security problems involving instant payment, such as key leakage, are “certainly negative”, but not strong enough “to shake the reliability of the payment”. Last week, the Central Bank reported the third data breach in six months, raising concerns about the modality’s security.

On the other hand, among the factors that can help keep the availability of Pix growing, he cites the agenda of new features to be implemented by the monetary authority, such as installment payments. In addition, he also highlights the differentials that shopkeepers are offering to those who opt for instant payment, such as discounts of up to 10% of the cash value.

The credit card, historically a major driver of e-commerce, continues in the first position in the ranking. Features such as interest-free installments and points in frequent flyer programs encourage consumers to use it, says the consultancy.

Source: Valor International

https://valorinternational.globo.com

/by