Netherlands-based GarantiBank International (GBI) has announced its half year results of its trade finance division, with steel and steel making raw materials sector contributing the most to the bank’s commodity financing business.

 

During the first six months of the year, GarantiBank International facilitated 5.7mn tonnes of physical commodity trade through its trade finance division. Total transaction volume was US$3.9bn.

 

Compared to the first half of 2006, the total tonnage amount remained the same but the transaction volume grew by 26%.
GarantiBank also supported the physical trade of 4.1mn tonnes of steel and steel making raw materials such as iron ore and coking coal by the end of the first half of the year. Compared to 2006, this sector saw an 8% growth in tonnage.
As well as supporting global commodity trade, GBI has also increased its syndicated and structured lending activity in 2007 working increasingly with emerging market banks and supporting international trade.
The aggregate transactional volume of trade finance activity in the first half of 2007 saw a 26% growth compared to 2006. About 30% of this volume is related to structured products, and the remaining volume involves transactional commodity finance products including commodity-based lending, documentary credits and collections.