Sandra Cristina de Moura Bonjour

Amazonian forest loss and the long reach of China’s influence

This paper explores China’s role in deforestation in Latin America. Brazil’s Amazon region contains vast natural resources including land, timber, minerals and hydroelectric potential. China’s strong economy and large demands relative to domestic supplies of these resources mean that China has become Brazil’s largest trading partner, primarily for natural resources. The paper examines how China influences deforestation in Brazilian Amazonia in a variety of ways, including through the direct influence of Chinese enterprises through land purchases and other mechanisms. This paper finds that the rapid rise in exports of soy and beef products to China are two of the major drivers of Amazonian deforestation in Brazil. The paper further argues that Chinese purchases of agricultural and forest land and Chinese imports of commodities such as timber and aluminum also cause environmental impacts in Amazonia. Chinese financing and investment in Amazonian infrastructure such as railways and mineral processing facilities have additional impacts.

Sources of growth of bovine meat exports from Mato Grosso from 1996 to 2010

The objective of this study is to analyze the competiveness of the Mato Grosso bovine meat in view of the international market through researching the factors that most influenced the performance of the Mato Grosso bovine meat exports from 1996 to 2010. Specifically, the aim was to verify if the Mato Grosso bovine meat contains competitive sustainable advantages to maintain its international market position and if it is possible to increase its market share. To do so, a comparison of the competitiveness of bovine meat export of Mato Grosso was performed. Also, the competitiveness of the Brazilian meat exports was compared with that of other main exporters of this product, namely, Australia, Argentina and the United States through the use of the Constant Market Share Model (CMS). The obtained results of CMS with respect to Mato Grosso made it possible to verify that competitiveness was not a dominant factor throughout the whole period and that Mato Grosso will be able to maintain its position in the world market and expand its market share further. These results are caused by the destination of the exports and the increase of global trade rather than competitiveness.