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Fitch Ratings has announced that Portuguese banks will be able to absorb the rise in impaired loans in 2023. The likely increase in impaired loans is due to the economic slowdown, high inflation and rising interest rates. The ratings agency expects the sector’s impaired loans ratio to increase only modestly, partly due to tighter underwriting guidelines introduced in 2018. The sector’s impaired loans ratio was about 3.4% end of June 2022, according to Banco de Portugal, compared to a peak of about 18% end of June 2016. Portugal's Central Bank 2018 macroprudential recommendations led to the near elimination of new residential mortgage lending with LTV ratios above 90%. #FitchRatingsPortuguesebanks #fitchratingsportugal2023 #portugaleconomy2023 #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Volkswagen announces training for e-mobility by 2025. The training will be held at their Wolfsburg plant in Germany, that is the headquarters of the Volkswagen Group and is one of the largest manufacturing plants in the world. According to TopElectricSUV, the next-gen VW T-Roc, that is produced by Autoeuropa in Portugal, will come with plug-in hybrid tech in 2024. The T-Roc is Volkswagen Group's best-selling model and Europe's number 3 model in 2022. #Volkswagenemobility2025 #VolkswagenTRocEV #TopElectricSUV #VWTRoc #Autoeuropa #VWpluginhybridtech #EVportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Portugal’s exports of goods and services reach nearly EUR 120 billion for 2022. This new record high figure represents a 33.9% growth compared to 2021 according to Portugal’s Central Bank, Banco de Portugal. The Travel and Tourism sector grew by 109.7% compared to 2021, reaching over EUR 11 billion. Spain was the main export market with a share of 20.6% of exports, followed by France with 12.4% and Germany with 10.8%. Outside the EU, the main export market is the UK with 9%, followed by the US with 7% of total exports. #portugaltotalexports2022 #portugalexportsgoodsandservices2022 #tourismfiguresportugal2022 #BancodePortugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Green Hydrogen exports from Spain will be starting in 2027 with Spanish oil company CEPSA using the Green Hydrogen maritime corridor to export to the Netherlands. CEPSA is investing EUR 3 billion to produce 2 GW of green hydrogen in Andalusia. CEPSA signed an MOU with ACE Terminal to supply green ammonia to the port of Rotterdam. According to El Economista, the goal is to convert ammonia into green hydrogen for industrial use in north-west Europe or as renewable fuel for the maritime sector. The ACE Terminal is being built in the port of Rotterdam, that is a strategic location giving direct access from the North Sea pipeline to north-west Europe. The terminal will be used to import hydrogen and also to convert ammonia into green hydrogen. #greenhydrogencorridoroperational2027 #greenhydrogenexportsspain #CEPSA #ACETerminal #greenammonia #ElEconomista #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Portuguese bank Novo Banco may have the State as 2nd major shareholder. Tax credits valued at EUR 260 million may be converted to reach 12.8% and will position the State as the 2nd main shareholder. It is to be noted that Novo Banco was rescued by the State in 2014 when it was then the Banco Espírito Santo (BES). According to Eco, with the stake to be acquired by the Portuguese Treasury, Lone Star will remain the bank’s major shareholder with 75% of shares that were bought for EUR 1 billion in 2017. #NovoBanco #NovoBancoPortugueseTreasury #LoneStar #banksportugal #bankingsectorportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

The digitalization of Aveiro Port in northern Portugal has started with the use of 5G technology. The proof of concept trial using technology developed by Vodafone and Ericsson will provide efficient load management. The port of Aveiro has used the technology on a trial basis for 9 months with excellent results. The database for maritime transport and for managing warehouse space has led to major improvements, including a 10% increase in the number of items offloaded per hour. It has also reduced by a third the time needed to register freight data and is revolutionizing port management services. #digitalizationAveiroPort #portmanagementportugal #portmanagement5G #Vodafone #Ericsson #logisticsportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Portugal’s 2023 Carnival will be on February 21st. The origin of the tradition of Shrovetide dates back to pagan times and is always celebrated on a Tuesday, 40 days before Easter, in order to symbolize temptation. Reservations in Portugal’s hotels are already higher than pre-pandemic levels with a strong demand from the British, German and French holidaymakers. #portugalcarnival2023 #hotelreservationsportugal2023 #portugaltourism2023 #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

PBN/LUSA - The European Investment Bank has opened exploratory talks with Portugal, Spain and France for the planned green hydrogen maritime pipeline that will strengthen the Iberian interconnections, acknowledging the possibility of funding it if the project satisfies the eligibility criteria. #EIBPortugal #EIBIberianpipeline #greenhydrogenmaritimepipeline #greenhydrogenportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

An investment of EUR 80 million in Portuguese BioShoes4All is spearheading the industry for a more sustainable bioeconomy. Since 9 out of 10 pairs of shoes are made in Asia, do you think this is sustainable? This is the question raised by Portugal’s BioShoes4All consortium that comprises 70 partners with leather goods, footwear, technology and research companies. The leading entity is Portuguese footwear association APICCAPS and the project is led by Portugal’s footwear technological centre CTCP. The BioShoes4All project is divided into five pillars, namely biomaterials, ecological footwear, circular economy, advanced production technologies and training, as well as promotion. The ambitious project aims at inducing a radical change in the materials, technologies and processes in the footwear sector. This is made possible by at least 69 partners from different sectors, including design, biological resources, leather, polymers, composites, chemical products, machine manufacturers, communication and information technologies, logistics, waste recovery as well as market visionaries. Portugal’s BioShoes4All research project, that started in July 2022 and will be completed in June 2024, will lead to the development and production of new biomaterials and components that are based on the principles of a circular bioeconomy. With the creation of new concepts of eco-products, new technologies that will add value to post-consumption waste and ensure the traceability of the entire value chain, as well as the use of AI, the project will transform the entire footwear industry in line with the objectives set out in Portugal's Economic Recovery Plan for 2020-2030. #BioShoes4All #bioeconomyportugal #portuguesefootwear #APICCAPS #CTCP #biomaterialsportugal #ecologicalfootwearportugal #circulareconomyportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Portugal is investing EUR 26 M in AI technology aimed at transforming the Justice Department with funds coming from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR). Portugal’s Gov-tech strategy for digital transformation will provide innovative services developed by universities, research centres and startups in order to have a more efficient Justice system. The total amount of PRR funds to be invested by the Justice Department will reach EUR 266.9 million, out of which 15% will be used for simplifying e-services for citizens and companies. With the motto “Together to Transform the Justice Department”, Portugal’s strategy is to integrate innovative tech projects using AI. The tech projects that are already operational include the online application for citizenship that will authenticate documents automatically, but it is reserved for representatives in the first phase. A database of trade and company names is already operational using AI to automatically create possible names for companies. Ongoing projects include the anonymization of data that will make it possible for rulings to be published, thus increasing transparency and data availability through AI. Moreover, an Access Guide that uses machine-learning and that is similar to ChatGPT will be launched in March. It will provide information to citizens about the procedure to be followed for each situation. The first phase will provide information about wedding and divorce procedures, while in the future it will provide information about all other legal procedures. #PortugalinvestmentsAI #JusticeDepartmentPortugal #digitaltransformationportugal #ChatGPTportugal #digitalnewsportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

IberBlue Wind intends to invest EUR 2.5 B in a Floating Wind Farm in Figueira da Foz, in central Portugal and 55% of the investment will be national. The Botafogo project will be the largest floating offshore wind farm in Portugal and will contribute to the supply of clean energy in the region. The offshore wind farm will be comprised of 55 wind turbines of 18MW each and is expected to produce 990 MW that will be enough to supply 670,000 homes per year. IberBlue Wind, that is a joint venture with Irish company Simply Blue Group as well as Spanish companies Proes Consultores and FF New Energy Venture, has submitted a Letter of Interest that is a required step for obtaining a permit. The consortium is specialized in the development of floating offshore wind farms that will operate on the Iberian market and their objective is to position Spain and Portugal as leaders in the field of renewable energy. The Botafogo project will have an operational life of more than 25 years and will be located at a distance of at least 20 km from the coast in order to limit the visual impact. With the use of cutting-edge technology to produce zero-carbon electricity, it is expected to contribute to the Portuguese government’s target of 10 GW of offshore wind by 2030. #IberBlueWind #floatingwindfarmPortugal #Botafogoproject #SimplyBlueGroup #ProesConsultores #FFNewEnergyVenture #renewableenergyportugal #investmentsportugal #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews

Spanish Mercadona is investing EUR 225 M in Portugal’s logistics sector in Almeirim, Santarém, that is a one-hour drive north of Lisbon. The company intends to create 500 new jobs by 2024. Mercadona supermarkets is building its new logistics centre in Santarém and expects it to be operational in 2024. The centre will have an area of 120,000 sq. m, with a cold store of 47,000 sq. m, a dry goods store of 50,000 sq. m as well as offices. The centre will be using solar energy to optimize energy consumption and will have 15,000 solar panels, that is an investment of EUR 6.5 million. Mercadona is therefore ensuring that 25% of energy consumption will be green. It is to be noted that Mercadona inaugurated its first logistics centre in Porto in 2019 at a cost of EUR 60 million and extended the centre at a cost of EUR 25.5 million. Mercadona has a network of 16 logistics centres and distributes to 1,600 supermarkets in Portugal and Spain. #Mercadonaportugal #Portugallogisticssector #investmentsportugal #mercadona #portugalnews #portugalbusinessnews