Brazil caps off state visit with $1.5bn aircraft deal

China and Brazil signed a series of commercial agreements during a meeting between their heads of state, including a contract valued at US$1.5 billion for Brazil’s Embraer (EMBR3.SAO) to supply aircraft to Chinese companies, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Brazilian aircraft maker, also known as Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica, said two Chinese companies, China Southern Airlines’ (600029.SH, 1055.HK) supplier CBD Leasing and Hebei Airlines, had both agreed to purchase 10 of Embraer’s E190 regional passenger aircraft, which are priced at around $43.2 million each. Embraer also separately announced plans to produce private jets at a joint-venture production facility in China. The company had earlier threatened to shutter the plant after authorities barred it from producing jets that compete with those manufactured by a domestic Chinese firm, said sources close to the Brazilian side. Including the newly signed deals, Embraer has orders for a total of 135 aircraft from China.