Southern Cone in August 2026: the most important developments in economy
The Southern Cone economy in August 2026 was led by Argentina's energy exports. Argentina LNG sought approval under the RIGI investment regime for a $51 billion export project. Investors put more money into the Vaca Muerta shale formation, with Harold Hamm raising his bet at the start of the month and Peter Thiel backing an oil company operating there on August 15. Argentina also aimed at Asian crude markets with a new terminal able to load very large tankers, and Asian refiners were buying Argentine oil as the Iran war affected supply. A report on August 14 put the country's blue economy at a $391 billion opportunity.
At home, President Javier Milei's economic policy faced scrutiny. Four former central bank presidents gave differing views on his reform of the bank's charter on August 1. On August 14, the central bank chief admitted the economy was growing too slowly. A poll by the consultancy that predicted Milei's rise warned of five key drops for his economic strategy, and reports said Argentines were struggling with rising family debt. Milei backed Marcos Galperin's skepticism of official consumption data, and a report said inflation would be 15 percentage points higher under a scrapped index. The government sought to renegotiate the airport concession held by Aeropuertos Argentina, and the country's Mint defaulted on a payment to Brazil's Mint.
In business and trade, Toyota announced on August 7 that it will build an electric Hilux pickup in Argentina. Reports said local entrepreneurs were beating multinationals in the domestic market and that more foreign brands were following H&M and Miniso into the country, although producing there remains more expensive than in several regional countries. The United States recalled 13.6 tons of Argentine beef over missed reinspection, and Argentina was later excluded from a US beef import quota.
In Chile, construction began on a 500-kilometer barrier along the border with Peru and Bolivia, and the government will reinvest all of Codelco's 2025 profits in the debt-laden copper miner. In Uruguay, property values in the Punta del Este region rose by up to 80% in four years.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
Click a day in the chart above for that day's brief.