Argentine e-commerce giant Mercado Libre surpassed Brazilian mining company Vale as the company with the highest market value in Latin America, according to a study released this Friday by the Economática consultancy.
According to the report, the Argentine firm has reached a market capitalization of 59,352 million dollars, compared to the 57,186 million dollars reached by Vale.
The market value of Mercado Libre has risen in recent months due to the effect of the new coronavirus pandemic, which caused the company to grow both in demand and supply.
Between the end of February and the beginning of May, the company registered a growth in purchase orders of more than 100 percent compared to the same period last year in Chile, Colombia and Mexico; while in Argentina and Brazil they increased by 52 percent and 39 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, the number of new buyers in Latin America climbed 45 percent in the same period, to 5 million, half of them in Brazil, the most populous country in the region with 210 million inhabitants.
Brazil is currently the company’s main market, followed by Argentina, although Mexico could take the second position in the marketplace this year, according to Mercado Libre’s chief operating officer, Stelleo Tolda, in a recent interview with Efe.
According to Economática, the third step in the classification of the most valuable companies in Latin America is occupied by the oil company Petrobras, controlled by the Brazilian State, but with shares traded on the São Paulo, Madrid and New York stock exchanges, and with a value market of 55,534 million dollars.
Behind are the Itaú bank, the largest private financial entity in Brazil (44,584 million dollars), the Mexican subsidiary of the American retail chain Walmart (43,162 million dollars) and América Móvil, company of the Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim (41,809 million dollars). of dollars).
EFE
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