Latin America

摘要

New statistics pointing to a deepening recession in much of Latin America weighed on the outlook for asphalt markets there, just as seasonal demand in the southern cone of South America was set to revive. Unemployment in Brazil increased to nearly 9pc at the end of the summer, the Brazilian government’s Institute for Geog- raphy and Statistics said this week, adding to a drumbeat of poor economic performance data in one of the largest asphalt consumers in the region. Oil workers in six Brazilian states went on indefnite strike this week, and although the com- panies’ refneries were largely unaffected, the strike creates further uncertainty about state oil frm Petrobras’ divestment plans, a target of the strikers. The Brazilian real fell to record lows against the US dollar in late September and only rebound- ed slightly and unevenly in October as the state’s central bank sought to battle infation.