Global commodities trader Trafigura has struck a US$200mn facility agreement with the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-Sure), which the agency hopes will boost South Korea’s shipping industry.
South Korea’s export credit agency (ECA) K-Sure is providing a five-year guarantee that will support financing from Crédit Agricole CIB, which acted as coordinating and structuring bank, as well as Barclays and OCBC.
Trafigura is one of the world’s largest charterers of vessels, making more than 5,500 voyages per year. It says the proceeds of the facility will help cover costs such as time charter fees, obtaining the use of a vessel and paying crew for months or even years.
The deal marks the first time an export credit agency has supported a medium- to long-term facility “grounded” in time charters, Trafigura says in a July 29 statement.
It is also the first time K-Sure has covered a Trafigura financing facility and the trader’s first ECA-backed loan not tied directly to commodity trading activity.
The trader has committed to growing its usage of Korean shipping companies further, K-Sure said in an earlier statement, but a Trafigura spokesperson declined to provide further details.
The trader says the deal is expected to boost South Korea’s services exports and enhance the competitiveness of mid-sized maritime companies.
Trafigura has previously concluded chartering contracts with South Korean shipping firms, over half of which are mid-sized businesses, K-Sure says.
Jang Young-jin, K-Sure’s president, says the Trafigura facility will be an “important turning point” as South Korea works to enhance the competitiveness of its domestic shipping industry.
“In the future, we will continue to actively identify overseas blue-chip charterers and provide financing solutions that support the expansion of Korea’s shipping service exports. We will also actively explore new financial opportunities in sectors such as services to promote national interests,” Young-jin adds.
Trafigura’s global head of shipping Andrea Olivi says the deal “enables us to work more closely with Korean shipping companies and contributes to building a more resilient and diversified maritime supply chain”.
Trafigura has become an increasingly active user of the export finance market since 2022, securing billions of dollars in support for energy and metals trading. Italy’s Sace, Germany’s Euler Hermes, the UAE’s Etihad Credit Insurance and the Export-Import Bank of Korea have all provided the firm with guarantees or direct financing.
