Infrastructure

Port of Miami puts rail project on fast track
The Port of Miami unveiled a project designed to increase its ability to move cargo quickly in anticipation of the Panama Canal expansion.

On Friday, Port of Miami officials provided details of a new transportation plan calling for the $46.9 million refurbishment of the rail track to speed cargo trains from the port to the FEC Hialeah Railyard, a major rail cargo hub near Miami International Airport.

The track plan is part of a comprehensive port overhaul that also includes a new highway tunnel under Biscayne Bay to the port and a dredging project to deepen the port harbor from the current 42 to 50 feet for the superships of the future.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/21/1785682/port-of-miami-puts-rail-project.html#ixzz0xdAGdMbl

Atlantic-Pacific corridor gets green light

Latin America's answer to the Panama Canal, an overland link connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans via Chile, Brazil and Bolivia, may open as early as November, officials said.

The ambitious railroad and highway link between Sao Paulo's Santos port in Brazil and Chile's Pacific ports of Iquique and Arica will pass through Bolivia and span more than 2,600 miles.

Officials described the "bioceanic link" as a flagship project for South America's Mercosur trade bloc, giving the community an edge in regional and international trade.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/08/20/Atlantic-Pacific-corridor-gets-green-light/UPI-85501282345372/

US States Balk At Costs Of High-Speed Rail Projects

Some states that participated in the Obama administration's plans for building high-speed rail networks are now balking at those projects, halting or scaling back development because the federal government won't foot the entire bill.

The latest round of federal funding for high-speed rail carries a requirement that states chip in 20% of a project's costs. States say that is forcing them to choose between putting money toward what they see as more pressing short-term needs and devoting funds to projects that will take years to complete.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100820-711730.html

China, South Africa Sign Deals To Deepen Ties In Resources, Energy

China and South Africa on Tuesday signed a raft of commercial deals in mining, finance, nuclear energy and other sectors during a visit by South African President Jacob Zuma, as Beijing strengthens its commercial ties with Africa's largest economy.

The list of more than 10 deals, the total value of which wasn't announced, reflects China's focus on expanding its resources and energy reach in South Africa to fuel continued growth of China's booming economy, which is on pace to surpass Japan's this year as the second largest after the U.S. China's demand for resources has lent great support to South Africa's economy as well as its currency, the rand, in recent years.

snip
Davies also said South Africa sees China as something of a model for its currency policy. China's defense of its competitive currency as part of its industrial development is a "lesson" for South Africa, he said, adding that the rand is too volatile. There is a consensus that South Africa needs a more competitive and stable currency, Davies said, but the rand "has appreciated too much" in the wake of Europe's debt crises this year and the government isn't hoping to see a further appreciation.

snip
Among deals announced Tuesday, China Metallurgical Group Corp. said it will construct an iron-titanium mine in South Africa. The mine will have annual production of 1.2 million tons of pig iron and 680,000 tons of titanium dioxide, Xu Yongjie, a vice president of MCC International Inc., a China Metallurgical unit, said on the sidelines of the China-South Africa Business Forum.

China Metallurgical's framework agreement, signed with Kermas Mining Fund L.P., sets the Chinese company as the main contractor for building the mine, which is located in northeastern South Africa, as well as for infrastructure for the mine, Xu said. Other details have yet to be finalized, he said.

snipDavies, the South African minister, brushed off concerns that China looms too large in Africa, saying competition for influence and for resources there has also helped give local countries there more choices. "We actually welcome the fact that China has a presence," he said. "We welcome a multiplicity of players, so we simply don't just have to relate to the established trading partners of the developed world."
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100824-706188.html

China is movin' into Africa. Note MCC has fraud history

Yet another Indian American joins USAID

WASHINGTON: Sohini Chatterjee, an Indian American lawyer involved in development work worldwide, has been appointed as Senior Advisor in the Office of Donor Engagement in the US Agency for International Development's newly created Policy Planning Bureau.

Chatterjee will work closely with USAID administrator, Dr Rajiv Shah, the highest ranking Indian American in the Obama administration, and another Indian American, Nisha Desai Biswal, recently appointed as the Assistant Administrator for Asia in the agency.

The new bureau is envisaged to consolidate policy-planning functions within USAID and evaluate what natural disasters, civil unrest outbreaks or refugee crises are most urgently in need of the agency's limited resources.

Born in Rourkela, Orissa, and raised in Cary, North Carolina, Chatterjee earlier worked in the Development Economics Prospect Group at the World Bank on the issues of migration and remittances.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Yet-another-Indian-American-joins-USAID/articleshow/6424828.cms

India Unveils $4.3bn Port Expansion Plan

The Ministry of Shipping in India has announced a INR200bn ($4.3bn) plan for 25 port projects which will be awarded under a public-private-partnership scheme this year.

The ministry said the proposal includes the construction of mega-container terminals at Chennai Port and the conversion of a berth for a container terminal at Tuticorin Port.

The ministry said it expects Singapore, Dubai and other Gulf countries to invest in the projects.
http://logisticsweek.com/ocean/2010/08/india-unveils-4-3bn-port-expansion-plan/

25 port projects!

wow..you been busy..india of course..anything in brazil?..would expect a lot.with olympics coming there

with nikki and ian together we wont miss anything big i reckon

here ya go seeker

Brazil hopes to power rise on Olympics, World Cup projects


Brazil, the world's eighth largest economy with a GDP of $1.5 trillion, is gearing up to host the football World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016 - two mega sports events that it hopes will help build the foundations of a "new Brazil" and herald its arrival as a global economic and political power.

Both the events will throw up projects worth $220 billion from 2011 to 2014, according to published reports. An estimated $5.5 billion will be spent on improving transportation in Rio in preparation for the Olympic Games while a high speed bullet train at a cost of $18.7 billion is being developed and is expected to be completed in time for the World Cup.

In March this year, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched a $878 billion programme to upgrade Brazil's infrastructure.

Some of the infrastructure projects include the construction of a nuclear power plant, a hydropower plant to be built at $4.1 billion and another hydropower plant at a cost of $3.1 billion.

There are also plans for 11,700 miles(18,720 km) of railroads facilitating improved access to the 12 cities hosting the 2014 World Cup while $43 billion will be spent on commercial and tourism construction in preparation for the event.

About $3 billion will be spent on airport expansion and improvement. Also, historic buildings will be restored and renovation of Rio de Janeiro city will be carried out. The budget for the Games alone will be a mind-boggling $15 billion.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Brazil-hopes-to-power-rise-on-Olympics-World-Cup-projects/Article1-591491.aspx

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11101842

Brazil's government has given the formal go-ahead for the building on a tributary of the Amazon of the world's third biggest hydroelectric dam.

After several failed legal challenges, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed the contract for the Belo Monte dam with the Norte Energia consortium.

Critics say the project will damage the local ecosystem and make homeless 50,000 mainly indigenous people.

But the government says it is crucial for development and will create jobs.

Bidding for the project had to be halted three times before a final court appeal by the government allowed Norte Energia, led by the state-owned Companhia Hidro Eletrica do Sao Francisco, to be awarded the contract.

Brazil Needs Billions to Drill Really Deep

Brazil has a sunken-treasure problem. The discovery three years ago of a huge offshore stash of oil unleashed a gusher of nationalist euphoria. At somewhere between 9 billion and 15 billion barrels, it was the largest find in the Western Hemisphere in more than a quarter century. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva hailed the find as a ticket to Brazil’s “second independence,” and called on the country’s legislators to tighten state control over the oil industry.

Since then, things have become more difficult. Brazil’s treasure lies deeper (4.5 miles) and farther from shore (200 miles) than any oil being commercially exploited today. To tap that undersea wealth, state oil company Petrobras says it needs cash up front: some $224 billion over the next five years. It has planned a massive stock offering for September. Problem is, the complicated financial transaction will only add to Petrobras’s already heavy debt load (34 percent of net assets), which could move ratings firms to downgrade the company. That would drive up borrowing costs and sour the deal. Brazil could share the burden by calling on international oil majors as risk investors, but that would mean easing its grip on the industry. In the run-up to the Oct. 3 presidential elections, that’s not happening.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/29/brazil-needs-billions-to-dig-deep-for-oil.html

that's a lotta oil!

and a lot of risk

eFive Telecoms selects Alcatel-Lucent to build new submarine cable network linking West Africa to South America

Enhancing international connectivity and providing critical route diversity for traffic protection

Paris – Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that it has been selected by eFive Telecoms, a South African telecommunications company,to build a new submarine cable network linking the west coast of Africa to South America. The system will be composed of two trunks – the first one connecting South Africa to Angola and Nigeria, and the second trunk linking Angola to Brazil. This end-to-end project will further increase connectivity in Africa, deliver additional capacity for wholesale and will also enhance service and traffic protection by providing critical cable route diversity to South America.
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=122380

linking Africa and South America

Caterpillar to expand manufacturing in Brazil

PEORIA, Ill. — Caterpillar Inc. plans to spend about $180 million to expand its manufacturing capacity in Brazil and meet growing demand in Latin America.

The world's largest maker of construction and mining equipment said Wednesday that it had purchased an existing manufacturing plant in Campo Largo, Brazil, and over the next two years, it plans to expand its existing plant at Piracicaba, Brazil.

Caterpillar says the Campo Largo facility will produce backhoes and small-wheel loaders used in construction. It is expected to begin production during 2011, and it will employ as many as 1,000 people at full capacity.

Caterpillar's Rich Lavin says this Brazilian expansion will help the company based in Peoria, Ill., serve its growing customer base in Latin America.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hwEbu3lLIlE7tmDFpJtahRekupfgD9HV76N00

CAT is smart..going to the infrastructure boom
recent headline
Investors can prosper from Brazil infrastructure boom

soros agrees

Follow the globalist..