International Trade
Cargo that has arrived at Puerto Cabello:
- 30,000 tons of white corn from Mexico for state agency LOGICASA
- 30,000 tons of sugar from Brazil for state agency
CORPOVEX
- 40,000
TM of steel for Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA)
- 1,027 head of cattle from Nicaragua, 42,000 tons
of powdered milk, 170,000 tons of black beans and 30,000 tons of rice from
Brazil, all for state agency CASA
Oil &
Energy
Oil Minister talks
about renegotiating PDVSA debt, says joint venture partners must finance entire
projects
Oil Minister and PDVSA President Eulogio Del
Pino has said that “a company that has honored its engagements as we have, I think is in a
position to speak to the main bond holders...to propose a change in short term
debt accruals" to make them easier to bear. He also said that all of
PDVSA's partners in joint enterprises must hold not only their own portion of
project financing "but also that
portion (of financing) accruing to PDVSA (60%)". He said whatever
financing is obtained must be "in
the name" of the partner, with much lower interest rates than PDVSA
can get on the open market. This way the state oil company will benefit from its
partners' better credit ratings. More in Spanish: (El Mundo: http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/petroleo/industria/pdvsa-en-2015-ha-cumplido-con-todos-los-pagos-de-b.aspx#ixzz3r6Ia4pG1)
...but BARCLAY's says PDVSA bond restructuring
is not attractive to investors
A report to clients
from BARCLAYS Capital indicated a PDVSA bond restructuring may not be
attractive to investors. It emphasized that in the absence of economic policy
changes, a restructuring arising from to "financial difficulties" could undermine investors interested
in the process. More in Spanish: (El Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/economia/mercados/estiman-que-eventual-canje-de-bonos-de-pdvsa-seria.aspx#ixzz3r538zmts;
El Nacional, http://www.el-nacional.com/economia/Canje-bonos-costoso-Pdvsa_0_735526603.html)
Venezuela oil price
rises but stays below US$ 40
Venezuela's weekly oil basket price recovered
from the previous week's low, but stayed below US$ 40 as oil prices around the
world bounced on recovering economies and output falls in Brazil and Libya. According
to figures released by the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, the average price
of Venezuelan crude sold by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) during the week
ending November 6 was US$ 39.90, up US$ 1.26 from the previous week's US$ 38.64. WTI
in New York averaged US$ 46.63 -- up US$ 1.67 -- for the week, while Brent
crude traded in London averaged US$ 49.09 -- up US$ 1.05 from the previous
week. According to Venezuelan
government figures, the average price in 2015 for Venezuela's mix of heavy and
medium crude is now US$ 46.78 for the year. (Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2399568&CategoryId=10717;
Veneconomy, http://www.veneconomy.com/site/index.asp?ids=44&idt=46121&idc=2;
http://www.veneconomy.com/site/index.asp?ids=44&idt=46118&idc=4)
Venezuela seen as
major beneficiary of Obama's Keystone XL snub
President Barack Obama’s rejection of
TransCanada Corp.’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline could give Venezuela’s
ailing economy a lifeline. With the world’s largest oil reserves, the country
produces heavy crude that’s similar in consistency to the one coming from
Canada’s oil sands, and its economy relies largely on shipping it to the same
U.S. Gulf Coast refineries that Keystone XL was meant to supply. (Bloomberg, http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-06/venezuela-seen-as-major-beneficiary-of-obama-s-keystone-xl-snub)
Maduro will travel to Saudi Arabia for ASPA Summit
President Nicolás Maduro is going to Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia, to take part in the Summit of South American and Arab Countries (ASPA).
During the summit he will repeat the need to convene a presidential summit with
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members and non-members,
in order to establish strategies to defend the oil market. More in Spanish: (AVN; http://www.avn.info.ve/contenido/presidente-maduro-propondr%C3%A1-iv-cumbre-aspa-defensa-precios-del-petr%C3%B3leo)
Commodities
Government is considering joint ventures in gold
mining
Oil and Mining Minister Eulogio Del Pino has announced that his office is
considering inviting the private sector to take part in joint ventures to
recover domestic gold production, and are evaluating areas destined for
government exploration, and those suitable for private participation in order
to present a proposal to President Maduro. More in Spanish: (Ultimas Noticias, http://www.ultimasnoticias.com.ve/noticias/actualidad/economia/se-crearan-empresas-mixtas-para-explotar-oro.aspx#ixzz3r58geJV9)
Economy
& Finance
Venezuela is running
out of cash & selling its gold
Venezuela is running out of money fast and has started
selling its gold. The cash-strapped country could default by next year when
lots of debt payments are due. Venezuela's reserves, which are mostly made up
of gold, have fallen sharply this year as the country needs cash to pay off
debt and tries to maintain its social welfare programs. Venezuela owes about US$
15.8 billion in debt payments between now and the end of 2016. But it doesn't
have enough to make good on its payments. Venezuela only has US $15.2 billion
in foreign reserves -- the lowest amount since 2003. A lot of those reserves
are in gold. Less than US$ 1 billion of Venezuela's reserves are in cash, and
it has a couple billion in reserves at the IMF. (Latin American Herald Tribune,
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2399602&CategoryId=10717)
.....withdraws US$ 467
million from its savings at IMF
Last month Venezuela withdrew .US$ 467 million
from its savings in the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to data
supplied by the organization. This is the third operation of such kind this
year in the middle of economic recession in Venezuela following the plunge of
its oil income. The IMF website showed data that indicates that Venezuela
cashed money from its special drawing rights (SDR) to have more liquid position
of its international reserves and use such funds to pay debt and finance
imports. Venezuela counts its position in SDRs as part of international
reserves, which had dived to their lowest level in 12 years, in the middle of
crumbling oil prices. After this recent withdrawal, in addition to a couple
withdrawals made earlier, in April and July, one for US$ 1.8 million,
Venezuela's position in SDRs shrank by nearly US$ 806 million, according to
latest data. (El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/151109/venezuela-withdraws-usd-467-million-from-its-savings-at-imf)
....and is reported to
be in talks with China for a currency swap
Venezuela's Central Bank is in conversations
with its Chinese counterpart over a possible currency swap that would allow the
nation to boost its dwindling international reserves, two sources familiar with
the talks told Reuters. The arrangement, which one source said could total
around US$ 3 billion, would provide financing for Venezuela to import Chinese
goods or maintain part of its reserves in yuan, leaving more dollar reserves
available to meet foreign bond payments amid investor concerns of a potential
default. The sources did not know which side initiated the discussions, which
began at least 10 months ago, but said the parties have not reached an
agreement. That is in part because it is not immediately evident how China
would benefit from holding bolivars. (Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/06/us-venezuela-china-idUSKCN0SV2LK20151106#P8r7OyI8bKE1EVFu.97)
Venezuela has paid US$ 27 billion in foreign
debt service in two years, according to President Maduro, who says US$
13.5 billion were paid out this year and an equal amount last year, despite
"economic warfare" and a
"financial blockade" by the
opposition and foreign banks, which "makes
his blood boil", and denied there will be a default. More in Spanish: (Notitarde; http://www.notitarde.com/Economia/Venezuela-ha-pagado-27000-millones-de-dolares-por-deuda-externa-/2015/11/07/691299/; El Mundo, http://www.elmundo.com.ve/noticias/economia/banca/maduro--venezuela-ha-pagado--27-000-millones-en-de.aspx)
Industrial production is down more than 75% to
date this year
Juan Pablo
Olalquiaga, President of the nation's National Council of Industries
(CONINDUSTRIA) says the drop in inventories due to limited FOREX access had led
to a drop in industrial productivity. He says there was a 75% drop during the
first semester, and the decline will increase by the end of the year, causing
"the end of contracts with small and
medium business, and a loss of jobs". More in Spanish: (El Nacional, http://www.el-nacional.com/economia/Conindustria-caido-produccion-va-ano_0_735526643.html)
Politics and
International Affairs
The campaign for legislative elections will
officially begin next Friday, November 13 at 6 A.M., and will end at midnight on December 3, as per a
recent decision by the National Election Board. (Veneconomy, http://www.veneconomy.com/site/index.asp?ids=44&idt=46116&idc=1)
National Elections Council to sign agreement
for UNASUR election "escorts"
Sandra Oblitas, Vice
President of the National Elections Council (CNE) has announced that the
institution will soon draw up the agreement to ensure attendance of a group of
international election "escorts"
from the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) at upcoming legislative
elections on December 6th. "Experts,
academicians, legislators" are coming, she said. For his part, Jesús Torrealba, Executive Secretary
of opposition Unified Democratic Conference (MUD) coalition says that the technical
electoral mission approved by the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) that
will visit Venezuela will be "radically
different" from UNASUR missions sent in previous elections. He said
the opposition does not yet know who will head the group after a debate within
UNASUR, but added "this is good
news, because UNASUR used to be a monolithic bloc, applauding anything the
regime would say, and there are now nuances. This is a very important fact,
beyond who takes which position".
(El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/151109/mud-unasur-electoral-mission-to-have-dual-leadership;
and more in Spanish: (El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/151110/cne-firmara-acuerdo-con-acompanantes-de-unasur
Shifting goal posts
help pro-regime candidates in parliament vote
Venezuela is projecting a drastic set of
migration patterns in months leading up to the pivotal Dec. 6 parliament vote:
to take one parliamentary seat away from affluent anti-government areas of
Caracas and add one to the working-class Socialist Party bastion of in the Tuy
valley region outside the capital. Government critics say there is no evidence
of such an improbable population shift. Critics say the government has shuffled
districts, devised confusing ballots to help its candidates and declared states
of emergency in border regions to crimp opposition campaigns. There are also
long-running complaints over Socialist Party campaigns using state resources,
and inadequate international observation. They also accuse Socialist Party
allies - such as the MIN - of posing as opposition forces on the ballot to sow
confusion and drain votes from the opposition coalition. Ismael Garcia, a
28-year-old parking lot attendant with no evident political experience, was
registered at the last minute as a MIN Unity candidate. His name will appear
side-by-side on the ballot next to an opposition candidate with more than 30
years of political experience: a man also named Ismael Garcia. Even after the
changes, the Socialist Party faces a tough election. Nationwide polls show
voters are more than twice as likely to back opposition candidates than those
of the Socialist Party, according to surveys between July and September.
(Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/04/us-venezuela-election-advantage-idUSKCN0ST25X20151104#wkHueZ7XWkSEGs39.97)
Capriles blames Maduro
for attack by armed gang
Miranda state governor and former Presidential
candidate Henrique Capriles has blamed President Nicolás Maduro for an armed
attack made on him during a tour of Yare municipality in his own state "by a small group of armed pro-regime people,
presumably supported by pro-regime (local) mayor Saúl Yánez". "Things have changed, Nicolás Maduro. Not
even by shooting at me in my own state will you stop your oncoming defeat",
he wrote on Twitter. More in Spanish: (Infolatam, http://www.infolatam.com/2015/11/09/opositor-capriles-denuncia-un-ataque-armado-sin-victimas-y-culpa-a-maduro/)
Venezuela says U.S.
military plane violated airspace
The Venezuelan Defense Ministry has claimed
that a U.S. DASH-8 military aircraft violated its maritime airspace and the
armed forces of Caracas said they detected “unusual”
air activity by other U.S. “intelligence
equipment” based in Curaçao. The U.S. Coast Guard DASH-8, “equipped with an electro-optic system that
allows the detection of thermal energy to create images, violated our airspace
over the territorial waters created by Los Monjes,” a Caribbean
archipelago, said Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino. He said that the violation
occurred last Friday and that the complaint “was transmitted to the Foreign Ministry for the appropriate action.”
(Latin American Herald Tribune, http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=2399598&CategoryId=10717;
Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/08/us-venezuela-usa-idUSKCN0SX0T720151108#4CgTLhoMKY6Cce1J.97;
El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/151109/venezuela-denounces-violation-of-its-airspace-by-us-aircraft)
Venezuelans rank fifth in political asylum
requests to the United States this year, according to NGO Refugee Freedom Program’s Director Julio
Henríquez. Last year, Venezuela ranked 10th. Henríquez said it was impressive
to see how Venezuelans went from being tourists in the United States to
politically persecuted. (Veneconomy, http://www.veneconomy.com/site/index.asp?ids=44&idt=46124&idc=1;
El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/151109/venezuela-ranks-fifth-in-number-of-asylum-applicants-in-the-us)
Maduro to address UNHR
Council this Thursday
President Nicolás Maduro will speak to the
plenary of the United Nations Human Rights Council next Thursday. A special
meeting of the Council will be held "as
a matter of courtesy" at the request of the government of Venezuela.
(El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/151109/venezuelas-maduro-to-address-unhr-council-on-thursday)
(El Universal, http://www.eluniversal.com/nacional-y-politica/151109/venezuelas-maduro-to-address-unhr-council-on-thursday)
Maduro regrets meeting
with Colombia's Santos has been postponed
President Nicolás Maduro has revealed that due
to scheduling problems a planned meeting with his Colombian counterpart Juan
Manuel Santos to deal with the border closing has been postponed until next
year. He added that if it is necessary to keep the border closed for two years,
"so be it". More in
Spanish: (Infolatam, http://www.infolatam.com/2015/11/04/maduro-revela-que-su-reunion-con-santos-ha-quedado-para-2016-y-lo-lamenta/)
Once again, Venezuela’s Ombudsman is held by
migration authorities, this time in Panama
Tarek William Saab was again held for
questioning by migration authorities. This time it happened in Panama when he
was to board a plane to Uruguay to attend a meeting of the Latin American
Federation of Ombusdmen. Last month, he was held for questioning at the Airport
of Mexico City because he has an Interpol Type I alert issued by the United
States. (Veneconomy, http://www.veneconomy.com/site/index.asp?ids=44&idt=46130&idc=1)
The following brief is a synthesis of the news
as reported by a variety of media sources. As such, the views and opinions
expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Duarte Vivas & Asociados and
The Selinger Group.
