Brazilian economy sails on with exploding yacht sales SAO PAULO (BDCi) – Yachts aren’t in abundance in just the French Riviera or Boston Harbor any more. Their fleets are gaining popularity south of the equator too. In Sao Paulo and other Brazilian sea ports you can find hundreds of yachts roaming the waters or up for sale as the economic expansion in this largest South American country continues to roll on. Per a report by Bradley Brooks of the Associated Press, Italian boat maker Ferreti is an example of a yacht company who has profited off the financial successes of Brazil. In 2007, Brazil was only 5% of the company’s global revenue. Now that percentage stands at 40% or $290 million (470 million reais) annually. One man paid $2 million for a ship, Marcio Christiansen, CEO of Ferreti’s Brazilian operation said, after succumbing within 30 minutes to his kids’ pleas of “Buy it, daddy, buy it!” And the ship-buying bonanza isn’t likely to end any time soon. Economists predict that the number of millionaires in Brazil will triple by the year 2020. Additionally, high demand for Brazilian products from sister developing market China is going to power this wealth creation for years to come.
There have always been the super-rich in Brazil what with the abundance of natural resources to peddle to global buyers: coffee, sugar, rubber, and gold. Now with new offshore oil discoveries and a burgeoning Democracy that has lifted millions out of poverty in the last decade, the sky seems the limit on wealth and wealth consumption in the land of yellow and green.
By Don Weinstein Source: AP via ABC News Photo courtesy of AP 30 August 2011
12:41a.m. P.D.T.