BUENOS AIRES, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Argentina’s economy is growing strongly, but at a slower pace than in previous months, the country’s economic activity indicator showed on Friday.

The EMAE economic activity index — a close proxy of gross domestic product — rose 7.8 percent in September versus the same month last year, according to the INDEC statistics agency ARECI14, the slowest year-on-year pace since March.

The EMAE rose 8.5 percent in August year-on-year and has been increasing by over 8 percent since March. According to the INDEC, economic activity expanded by 0.2 percent in September versus August.

“In seasonally adjusted terms real activity was flat during the third quarter,” said Alberto Ramos, a senior analyst for Goldman Sachs.

“This shows that the real business cycle is maturing, which raises the risk the authorities could step up the level of policy stimulus, which could intensify already high inflationary pressures,” Ramos added.

Latin America’s No. 3 economy is expanding at one of the fastest rates in the region, fueled by strong demand for Argentine-made cars and manufactured goods from neighboring Brazil and a record soybean and corn harvest last season.

The government has forecast annual expansion at 9 percent this year.

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 11 (Reuters) – Argentine lawmakers postponed a vote on Thursday on the government’s 2011 budget bill, but defiant officials said President Cristina Fernandez will simply extend this year’s framework if the bill stalls.

The delay is a setback for the center-left leader, whose drive to tap up to $7.5 billion in central bank reserves to pay debt would free up more money for social spending ahead of next October’s presidential election.

After debating for hours, legislators in the lower house narrowly voted to send the budget bill back to committee to consider changes requested by the opposition.

The current congressional session ends Nov. 30, leaving little time for both houses of Congress to vote on the budget plan. Cabinet Chief Anibal Fernandez said the government would probably not call for additional sessions if the bill stalls.

“What the president will do when the time comes is extend the budget, as the … law dictates, and we’ll continue with the 2010 budget. We have no choice, they’ve forced us into this,” he told local television.

If the 2011 budget is not passed, the government will be able to use decrees to redirect and increase spending.

President Fernandez could also issue a decree to tap foreign currency reserves to repay private creditors, ignoring opposition to the proposal.

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 26 (Reuters) – Latin American steelmakers see an increasing threat from cheap Chinese imports and want governments in the region to take steps to guarantee fair play, a regional chamber said on Wednesday.

Regional powerhouse Brazil introduced measures last week aimed at curbing imports of cheap steel products made in China that Brazilian steelmakers complain are flooding the market. [ID:nN22224134]

Daniel Novegil, chief executive of Latin American steelmaker Ternium (TX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) told reporters that the woes of Brazilian steel firms are shared by companies throughout the region, and that governments should do more about it because jobs are at risk.

“To the extent that we acknowledge that employment is important for our countries we’ll find a common agenda to defend ourselves from competitors who are predatory, who are disloyal,” said Novegil, whose company operates in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Panama.

He spoke during a conference organized by the Latin American Iron and Steel Institute, or ILAFA.

According to the group, demand for steel is growing rapidly in the region, but the output of Latin American steelmakers is not rising as fast because of an influx of imports from China.

ILAFA data shows that between 2008 and 2010 steel imports in Brazil soared 250 percent, whereas exports rose 70 percent, an unbalance that is “echoed in the region” said Andre Gerdau Johannpeter, CEO of Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau (GGBR4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

BUENOS AIRES, Oct 8 (Reuters) – An Argentine court has indicted two executives of agribusiness giant Cargill [CARG.UL] for suspected tax evasion, the tax agency said on Friday.

Last week, authorities raided the local premises of fellow global grains exporter Bunge (BG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) after the AFIP tax agency accused the company of evading close to $300 million in income tax between 2007 and 2009. [ID:nN07150061]. Bunge has denied the charge.

A court in charge of economic crimes has decided to prosecute the chairman of Cargill’s Argentine unit, Hector Orlando Marsili, and Javier Gustavo Fernandez, an executive working for Cargill’s Uruguay branch.

Cargill Argentina is under suspicion of evading at least 56 million pesos ($14 million), the statement said, adding that Bunge executives could also be indicted.

No one at Bunge in Buenos Aires or Rosario could be reached immediately for comment.

Cargill denied wrongdoing. Cargill Argentina President Hugo Krajnc told Reuters on Friday that “the judge had ignored all the proofs provided by the company” and that the company plans to appeal.

Late last month, AFIP chief Ricardo Echegaray, who is a close ally of the center-left government in the world’s No. 3 soy supplier, accused four of the country’s largest grain exporters of evading taxes in 2009, without naming them.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said on Wednesday the only way to resolve a dispute over U.S. government subsidies to Boeing was to reach “a negotiated settlement.”

The EU said it had won a dispute against the subsidies for Boeing that it hoped would set the stage for negotiated settlement that would allow European governments to continue to help Airbus develop new aircraft.

“This was a very thorough analysis which in fact supports our view in this dispute and I hope that everybody will be convinced that the right way out of this is to have negotiations and that’s the only good solution we can find,” De Gucht told Reuters during a visit to Argentina.

He spoke after a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel issued a confidential report on the dispute.

“My position has always been that the United States administration and the European Commission should engage in negotiations about this,” he added. “The only way out of this dispute is in fact by finding a negotiated settlement.”

A European source said the EU prevailed in most of the $24 billion of claims it had brought over allegations of unfair federal, state and local aid to Boeing.

Two U.S. sources familiar with the case said the WTO panel found Boeing had benefited from federal and other subsidies, but to a much lower extent than its European adversaries suggest.

DUGGAN, Argentina (Reuters) – Tipping the scales at more than a ton, Montecristo would yield a lot of prime Argentine steak. But ranchers are not interested in sending bulls like him to slaughter — his semen is far more valuable.

With newly affluent consumers from Brazil to China eating more meat, Argentine ranchers are honing their centuries-old cattle-breeding traditions to meet growing global demand for semen, embryos and genetics know-how.

“We don’t have to pay for advertising, people associate the word Argentina with the word beef,” said Mariano Etcheverry, secretary of CABIA, a chamber that groups around 20 Argentine bovine genetics companies.

Aided by the fame of the Argentine steak, breeders say exports to Brazil, Bolivia, Uruguay and Paraguay have surged in recent years as strong economic growth in South America swells the ranks of the middle-class. Some have also found new markets in Colombia and Venezuela.

Exports of bovine semen have increased ten-fold in the last decade, in part thanks to the devaluation of the peso currency after a 2001/02 economic crisis, Etcheverry said.

But it is China’s interest in bovine genetics that is rousing big hopes among breeders in Argentina, which already sends most of its soybean exports to the Asian giant.

“China is eager to buy Argentine genetics. It has a huge population and demand for meat is booming there,” said Guillermo Garcia, head of Las Lilas Genetica, which lies near the country town of Duggan some 125 km (80 miles) from Buenos Aires.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The end of Maradona’s tenure at the helm of Argentina’s national team has dealt a hard blow to his fans, even though his performance as coach was a far cry from his genius as a player.

Maradona accused Argentine soccer chiefs on Wednesday of conspiring to oust him and many fans think he deserved a more dignified exit despite Argentina’s disappointing showing at the World Cup.

“He is an iconic figure and deserved a more graceful farewell,” said Federico Garcia, 33, who works in retail.

“Here in Argentina, we love Maradona. I think the heads of the AFA (Argentine Football Association) kicked him out in a dodgy way.”

AFA’s executive committee voted unanimously not to renew Maradona’s contract as coach on Tuesday, citing “unbridgeable differences” with the former player, who led Argentina to World Cup victory as captain in 1986.

A solemn Maradona retaliated the following day saying he had been “betrayed” by soccer chiefs and that he had not been given enough time to shine.

“You know that my cycle lasted only for one and a half years. It was the shortest tenure in the past 35 years,” he said.

BUENOS AIRES, July 29 (Reuters) – The end of Maradona’s tenure at the helm of Argentina’s national team has dealt a hard blow to his fans, even though his performance as coach was a far cry from his genius as a player.

Maradona accused Argentine soccer chiefs on Wednesday of conspiring to oust him and many fans think he deserved a more dignified exit despite Argentina’s disappointing showing at the World Cup. [ID:nN28229127]

“He is an iconic figure and deserved a more graceful farewell,” said Federico Garcia, 33, who works in retail.

“Here in Argentina, we love Maradona. I think the heads of the AFA (Argentine Football Association) kicked him out in a dodgy way.”

AFA’s executive committee voted unanimously not to renew Maradona’s contract as coach on Tuesday, citing “unbridgeable differences” with the former player, who led Argentina to World Cup victory as captain in 1986. [ID:nN2742674]

A solemn Maradona retaliated the following day saying he had been “betrayed” by soccer chiefs and that he had not been given enough time to shine.

“You know that my cycle lasted only for one and a half years. It was the shortest tenure in the past 35 years,” he said.

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – The Catholic Church’s failure to derail a gay marriage law in Argentina shows once powerful clergymen losing their influence in Latin America, where pressure is growing for more liberal social legislation.

The law, which lets gay couples marry and adopt children, was approved last week to the cheers of hundreds of gay couples gathered outside Congress despite opposition from churchmen, who called gay families “perverse.”

“We shouldn’t be naive: this isn’t just a political struggle, it’s a strategy to destroy God’s plan,” Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the head of the Church in Argentina, said in a letter before the vote, urging lawmakers to reject the bill.

Mexico City and Uruguay upset the conservative Catholic hierarchy by passing similar legislation last year, and more liberal laws on social issues are likely in the region.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera has vowed to give more rights to same-sex couples, and Dilma Rousseff, a leading candidate in Brazil’s presidential race, has said she favors the legalization of abortion in a country that has the world’s largest Catholic population.

“Evidently the Church has been losing presence and influence regarding political decisions, which is part of a secularization process,” said Ana Maria Bidegain, a religious studies professor at Florida International University.

“People are still Catholic and they still believe in the fundamentals … but they no longer agree with what (the Church) says regarding morality,” she said.

LIMA (Reuters) – The fossil of a giant whale called Leviathan for having teeth bigger than a grown man’s forearms has been found in Peru by paleontologists who on Thursday said it may have been the largest predator to ever roam the seas.

Leviathan Melvillei, which was named after the sea monster in the Bible and the author of “Moby Dick” Herman Melville, is an ancestor of the modern day sperm whale, said Rodolfo Salas, a paleontologist at Peru’s Natural History Museum who took part in the study.

“This is an enormous tooth, more or less 14 inches long,” Salas told Reuters. “The features of the teeth lead us to believe that the Leviathan was a big predator. It has the largest teeth on record.”

The fossil of Leviathan was found two years ago and a team of scientists only unveiled the results of their find this week. Leviathan lived roughly 12 million years ago and its teeth were about twice as long as those of the great dinosaur Tyrannosaurus Rex.

“The Leviathan could have fed on other whales, which were very abundant and diverse in that period,” said Salas.

As well as ten well-preserved teeth, the team of European and Peruvian paleontologists also found the whale’s skull and its lower jaw. The findings were published in the journal Nature and the fossil will soon go on exhibit in Lima, Peru’s capital.

The discovery was made in 2008 in the Ocucaje desert in southern Peru, which millions of years ago was the bed of a sea, and an area that has yielded dozens of big discoveries.