GTR Trade Finance eNews - September 2012
Miga grows exposure to emerging markets
Miga issued US$2.7bn in political risk insurance for projects in developing countries in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012.
ICC tackles trade 'deadlock'
The International Chamber of Commerce has announced recommendations to counteract the global trade slowdown.
In its Business World Trade Agenda initiative, due to be presented to governments in Doha in April 2013, the ICC has compiled advice from international businesses of all sizes to define practical governmental and multilateral measures aimed at boosting trade growth.
BNY Mellon makes Emea TS appointments
BNY Mellon has appointed four people to its Emea treasury services (TS) team.
HSBC issues first Rmb documentary credit
HSBC India has issued its first renminbi (Rmb)-denominated documentary credit for a Mumbai-based pharmaceuticals company.
TNK-BP secures oversubscribed loan
Russia’s TNK-BP has closed a US$675mn term loan facility from a syndicate of nine banks.
AfDB backs Kenya-Ethiopia transmission line
The African Development Bank is extending a US$348mn 50-year loan to the governments of Kenya and Ethiopia for the construction of an electricity highway between the two countries.
Metinvest wins first ECA loan
Metinvest has secured a €25mn 10-year buyer credit facility backed by Euler Hermes. This is the Ukrainian steel producer’s first ECA-covered loan.
RBS introduces GlobalXChange
RBS is combining its cash management and foreign exchange solutions into its new GlobalXChange product suite.
Maersk Line offers paperless option
Ocean carrier Maersk Line has launched an e-commerce service in collaboration with GT Nexus.
Sangdong mine financing nears close
Canada’s Woulfe Mining Corp expects to sign a W168bn (US$150mn) debt financing agreement with South Korea’s Shinhan Bank in the next six weeks for its mine project in Sangdong.
DBS teams up with Kexim
Singapore’s DBS Bank and the Korean Export and Import Bank (Kexim) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to increase their project finance collaboration.
Baft-IFSA gets new CEO
Tod Burwell has been named president and CEO of Baft-IFSA after almost two years as senior vice-president for trade products.
HSBC appoints Asia Pacific sales head
HSBC has appointed Mark Troutman as regional head of sales for its global payments and cash management (PCM) business in the Asia Pacific region.
Investment bank launched to help UK exporters
UK business secretary Vince Cable has announced plans to launch a £1bn government-backed investment bank to fund struggling small and medium enterprises and exporters.
BNY Mellon launches multi-currency platform
BNY Mellon has launched a global enterprise payment hub (EPH) as part of its treasury services business.
Slow growth affects trade volumes
The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has downgraded its 2012 world trade expansion forecast from 3.7% to 2.5% after slow global growth impacted H1 trade volumes.
Disappointing output and employment data in the US, slower growth indices in China and the volatility caused by the European debt crisis also prompted the WTO to bring its 2013 estimate down from 5.6% to 4.5%.
WTO director general Pascal Lamy says: “In an increasingly interdependent world, economic shocks in one region can quickly spread to others. Recently announced measures to reinforce the euro and boost growth in the US are therefore extremely welcome.
“But more needs to be done. We need a renewed commitment to revitalise the multilateral trading system which can restore economic certainty at a time when it is badly needed. The last thing the world economy needs right now is the threat of rising protectionism.”
Trade volumes only grew 0.3% between Q1 and Q2 2012, or 1.2% at an annualised rate. The WTO adds that the slowdown was driven by a strong deceleration in imports of developed countries and weak exports from developing economies.
US and Japanese second quarter trade figures showed increases both in exports and imports (between 5 and 8.5% year-on-year), but intra and extra-EU trade continued to drop, particularly affecting the WTO forecast.
However, the organisation is optimistic that the forecast could improve if the European Central Bank’s recently announced bong purchasing programme has an immediate positive impact on EU import demand.
Taiwan wind farm gets syndicated loan
Taiwan’s Tongyuan wind farm has received an NT$3.1bn (€81.5mn) syndicated loan arranged by KfW Ipex-Bank.
Union Bank of Nigeria selects Misys
Union Bank of Nigeria has implemented Misys trade portal to help its trade finance managers to connect with their banks and complete international trade transactions.
Italy's Ghella scoops Euro-backed credit line
Rome-based construction company Ghella has secured a €42mn term credit facility from Italian bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and BNP Paribas for the development of its international business.
Asian banks stand by to fill the commodity financing gap
Asian banks are ready to fill the gap left by French banks in the commodity finance market, according to panellists at the
Loan Market Association’s syndicated loan conference held in London last week.
Historically, French banks have held between 15-20% of the market share in the commodity finance market. But over the last few months, these banks have scaled back, and in most cases pulled out of the commodities space.
LMA creates PXF agreement
The Loan Market Association (LMA) has launched a recommended single currency term facility agreement for pre-export finance transactions.
StanChart adds trade finance app to Straight2Bank
Standard Chartered has added a trade finance function to its Straight2Bank mobile solution, improving efficiency in decision-making.
Indonesian ECA signs co-operation agreement
Asuransi Eksport Indonesia (Asei) has signed a co-operation agreement with Austrian insurer Garant to boost Indonesian trade worldwide.
EU trade surplus grows
The euro area's trade surplus with the rest of the world reached €15.6bn in July 2012, a rise from €2.1bn in July 2011, Eurostat reveals.
Fortescue metals scores another loan
Fortescue Metals Group has secured a US$4.5bn senior secured credit facility from Credit Suisse and JP Morgan.
The loan proceeds will be used to refinance Fortescue’s existing bank facilities.
HSBC names China outbound head
HSBC has appointed Li Zhen as its first head of China outbound, to oversee the bank's China-dedicated desks across the world.
South African solar plant gets Opic support
The US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic) has extended a loan of up to US$250mn for a solar power project in South Africa, its first contribution to this type of energy development in the country.
Update: Cocobod signs annual PXF
Ghana Cocobod’s latest pre-export facility has been signed at US$1.5bn.
Clifford Chance appoints Asia finance head
Law firm Clifford Chance has appointed Mark Hyde as Asia Pacific finance practice area leader.
Karnataka Bank signs warehousing MOU
India-based Karnataka Bank has signed a memorandum of understanding with National Collateral Management Services for warehouse receipt financing and collateral management services.
StanChart rolls out single touch platform
Standard Chartered has launched its single touch regional custody platform to help its clients capture investment opportunities across the emerging markets.
Citi enhances collateral management tool
Citi has added a Swift-based automated collateral position reconciliation feature to its collateral management solution, OpenCollateralSM.
Barclays Bank Ireland hires TF director
Barclays Bank Ireland has hired Benette van Dyk as director of structured trade and sales finance to provide increased support to Irish companies looking to trade internationally.
Milbank hires LatAm securities partner
Law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley and McCloy has hired Carlos Albarracín as a member of its global securities group.
Bangladesh's Agrani Bank gets StanChart loan
Standard Chartered has extended a US$60mn facility to Bangladesh’s Agrani Bank, in support of its trade finance activities.
Euro banks seal Singapore shipping deal
Singapore ship operator Greenship Bulk has won a US$72mn post-delivery facility from Nordea Bank Finland and Nordbank to finance the acquisition of four bulk carriers.
FirstRand set to fund thermal coal project
South Africa’s FirstRand Bank is set to finance 65% of the Kangala thermal coal project sponsored by Universal Coal.
Subject to final approvals, FirstRand’s investment banking arm, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), will provide a R270mn (US$32.7mn) 6.5-year loan for the project, with the first drawdown scheduled in early 2013.
Universal initially expected Kangala to be funded on a 50% debt and 50% equity basis. After concluding a project finance tender process involving seven banks and finance institutions, the company chose RMB for its “inclusive” proposal for a long-term partnership to fund not only Kangala, but other projects in the future.
Located 65 km east of Johannesburg, the Kangala project consists of three properties and contains thermal coal suitable for the domestic market. A coal supply agreement has been signed with South African power utility, Eskom, with execution expected in mid 2012.
RMB’s head of resource finance, Henk Deist, says: “The strength of the offtake contract with Eskom has enabled the bank to put forward a finance proposition we believe is competitive and will assist Universal put this project into production expeditiously.”
Universal’s head of commercial and corporate affairs Anthony Ward adds: “As we transition from an explorer and developer of coal projects to a producer, having a pro-active bank working with us at multiple levels is important, and we look forward to a long-term relationship with RMB.”
Mine development at Kangala will start in the second half of 2012 and Universal expects to deliver the first saleable coal during the second half of 2013.
JP Morgan launches escrow services in Vietnam
JP Morgan Treasury Services has expanded its global escrow services to Vietnam to provide additional risk management solutions to its clients across trade transactions.
Sonae Industria wins trade receivables securitisation
Finacity Corporation and ING Belgium have closed a €100mn trade receivables securitisation for Portugese-based wood panel supplier Sonae Indústria.
Trafigura gets CFO from BNP's commodity team
Trafigura has hired Christophe Salmon as chief financial officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (Emea).
Owen takes the reins at RBS
John Owen has been appointed sole CEO of international banking at RBS, following the departure of Scott Barton, his former co-CEO, in August.
Citi names N America treasury head
Citi has appointed Andrew Gelb as head of North America treasury and trade solutions in New York.
Credit Agricole reorganises trade and export division
Crédit Agricole is losing its global head of origination, export and trade finance Henri d’Ambrieres as part of a reshuffle in its trade and export finance division.
d’Ambrieres is due to leave the bank in September.
The reorganisation will see Crédit Agricole’s former export and trade finance division split into a trade finance and an export finance department.
André Gazal head of export trade finance, North America, will move over from the bank’s New York’s office to head up the export finance department in a newly-created role.
Meanwhile, Naeem Khan, Crédit Agricole’s managing director, regional head export and trade finance will move over from Dubai to head up the new trade finance department.
ABN Amro signs MOU with KSure
ABN Amro and KSure have signed a memorandum of understanding to help South Korean enterprises finance overseas projects.
Asia trade finance
US Exim backs world's largest power plant
United Arab Emirates’ Barakah One Company has secured a US$2bn direct loan from the US Export-Import Bank (US Exim) to finance the first nuclear power plant on the Arabian Peninsula.
Barakah One Company will use the loan to build four nuclear reactor power-generating units on a coastal strip along the Arabian Gulf, near Abu Dhabi. The plant will become one of the largest nuclear-generating facilities in the world.
Korea Electric Power Corporation will supply the reactors to provide capacity of 5,600MW of gross electricity.
Pittsburgh-based Westinghouse Electric Company, along with Toshiba Corporation will provide the reactor coolant pumps, reactor components, controls, engineering services and training.
The loan ranks as US Exim’s largest transaction in the United Arab Emirates to date and is also its first greenfield nuclear-plant financing since the late 1990s, the bank says in a statement.
According to estimates from the US Census Bureau statistics, the line of credit will support approximately 5,000 American jobs across 17 states.
Citi jumps on commodity financing opportunity
Citi is taking advantage of the gap left by European banks with the launch of its new commodity trade finance unit.
Socar oil deal gets Deutsche support
Azerbaijan’s state-run oil company Socar has secured a three year US$110mn bilateral term loan facility with Deutsche Bank.
Bashneft on the look-out for new loan
Russian oil firm Bashneft is in talks with international banks to secure a US$500mn syndicated loan, sources close to the deal tell GTR.
Bashneft is believed to be holding off from signing anything in the hope that it can achieve a price similar to its last loan in August 2011 at 200 basis points.
Indonesia's Krakatau Steel secures syndicated loan
Indonesia’s state-owned steel company Krakatau Steel has won a US$450mn syndicated loan partly covered by China's export credit agency, Sinosure.
SBI and StarAgri team up for Indian farmers
The State Bank of India (SBI) and agri-services provider StarAgri Warehousing have teamed up to offer warehouse receipt financing and collateral management services to Indian farmers.
BarCap head of structuring leaves for JP Morgan
Richard Wilkins is set to leave Barclays Capital after five years to take up a role in JP Morgan’s export credit agencies advisory team.
Arcadia Energy taps syndicated loan market
Commodity trader Arcadia Energy has launched a US$245mn revolving credit facility into the syndication market.
Kenyan geothermal plant gets Opic support
US geothermal firm Ormat Technologies has received a US$310mn limited-recourse loan from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation for its Olkaria III power complex in Kenya.
New banks join Trafigura's jumbo revolver
Commodities trading company Trafigura has received support from new and existing banks in the renewal of its 364-day US$1.3bn secured revolving credit facility.
Standard Bank strikes oversubscribed loan
Standard Bank has signed a US$160mn syndicated loan facility in Taipei, to be used for trade finance purposes.
BTMU appoints TF managing director
The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ has appointed William Nowicki as managing director in its commodities and structured trade finance group.
IFC hires Asia supply chain officer
Danny Ip has joined the IFC as principal business development officer for its global trade and supply chain solutions department.
GTR editor moves on
GTR editor Rebecca Spong will be leaving the magazine on September 10.
HSBC hires new global trade head
James Emmett has been appointed as HSBC's new global head of trade and receivables finance.
Coface appoints UK and Ireland head
Frédéric Bourgeois has been appointed managing director of Coface in the UK and Ireland, as Xavier Denecker retires.
Stemcor approaches syndicated loan market
Steel trader Stemcor is tapping the syndicated loan market to refinance its annual revolving credit facility.
Rmb transactions continue to grow
The Rmb became the world’s 15th trade settlement currency in July 2012, overtaking the South African rand, a Swift report reveals.
The Chinese currency reached a 0.45% market share, compared to 0.44% for the rand. The Rmb is also getting closer to the Danish krone, which stands at 0.47% of market share.
Ksure and ABN Amro sign MOU
The Korea Trade Insurance Corporation and ABN Amro have signed a memorandum of understanding to support South Korean companies in overseas projects.
