ALL, South America's largest independent logistics supplier, will use the loan to purchase 11,000 rail cars and more than 200 new or rebuilt locomotives, as well as to extend some trunk routes. The goal is to increase cargo and container capacity for major agricultural and industrial export supply chains. The company, which offers both rail and truck service, provides intermodal transport, port operation and merchandise movement and storage throughout Brazil and Argentina. It also offers truck service only in other Latin American countries.

Last year Brazil's trade volume declined by 19.5% from the previous year to $80.28 billion. Imports, which account for $43.5 billion of the total, fell 16.5%, while exports, which accounted for the remaining $36.78 billion, fell 22.8%.

In May Brazil announced that China had become its largest trading partner. Though China's total trade volume for the first four months of 2009 declined 24.3% to $599.4 billion, trade with Brazil increased dramatically. For March alone, Brazil's exports to the Asian giant were up 134.6% compared to March '08 to $1.74 billion. By contrast, Brazil's March exports to the US totaled only $1.27 billion. As a result of the increased trade with China, Brazil enjoyed its first-ever trade surplus in March. In April, Brazil's total trade with China reached $3.2 billion, compared to $2.8 billion in trade with the US.