Brasilien

With commodity prices surging, lending to Brazilian farmers for tractors, harvesters and plows reached 8.2 billion reais ($4.8 billion) for the July through November 2010 period, a 64 percent increase since the same period last year and the fastest pace since 2004, reports Bloomberg.

In 2010, the Brazilian pulp industry - Fibria and Suzano Papel e Celulose a global producer of bleached eucalyptus pulp produced 14 million tons of pulp, 9.8 million tons of paper and export revenues of U.S. $ 6.7 billion according to Bracelpa (Brazilian Association of Pulp and Paper).

More than one million hectares of prime Amazon Rainforest land in Brazil has been made available for a programme of forestry concessions, according to the Brazilian Forest Service (SFB).

The area involved in the programme is spread over seven areas within the states of Rondonia and Pará, and is estimated to have a total potential timber production value of approximately 850,000 cubic metres every year.

A series of ancient underwater etchings has been uncovered near the jungle city of Manaus, following a drought in the Brazilian Amazon.

American conglomerate, General Electric (GE), has chosen Brazil as the location for its fifth key research and development centre, in a deal that will see the company invest $500 million in the nation.

The decision was made to locate the centre in Brazil as the company emphasizes its push on expanding its global operations - particularly in South America. Ferdinando Becalli-Falco, president of GE International, said Latin America's largest economy presented it with a number of financial benefits.