Trafigura has agreed a US$150mn revolving credit facility backed by two export credit agencies (ECAs) and two banks to support non-oil commodity exports from the UAE. 

The two-year facility, announced today, is provided by Natixis CIB and First Abu Dhabi Bank, both of which act as mandated lead arrangers. Natixis is also bookrunner, facility coordinator, facility agent and ECA agent. 

The deal is backed by a joint agreement between the two lenders, Trafigura and the UAE’s federal export credit company, Etihad Credit Insurance (ECI), as well as the Abu Dhabi Exports Office (Adex). Legal counsel was provided by Allen Overy Shearman Sterling and Clyde & Co. 

The facility will finance Trafigura’s purchase of non-oil commodities such as metals and minerals originating in the UAE. 

“These commodities are intended for export and re-export, thus cementing the UAE’s position as a vital hub in global trade networks,” ECI says. 

Trafigura group chief financial officer Stephan Jansma says the deal is “the first financing of its kind to a commodity trading company supporting the UAE’s increasing significance as a producer of non-hydrocarbon resources”. 

The UAE aims to reach AED800bn (US$218bn) in non-oil exports by the next decade. Adex previously backed another Trafigura facility – a US$135mn lending facility in support of commodity purchases – which covered purchases of refined hydrocarbons as well as metals. 

ECI chief executive Raja Al Mazrouei says the deal highlights the country’s focus on non-oil sectors and “strengthens the UAE’s reputation as a trusted source of essential commodities on a global scale”. 

The export credit agency adds the initiative is “a significant turning point in the UAE’s export landscape”. 

“Strategic partnerships between local and international banks – public and private – such as this one help us increase our national exports and strengthen the UAE’s role as a key player in international trade,” says Mohamed Saif Al Suwaidi, director-general of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and chairman of Adex’s exports executive committee. 

The agreement also marks the latest in a series of ECA-backed Trafigura deals, including in the Middle East. 

In September, the trading giant clinched a three-year US$500mn credit facility with the Saudi Export-Import Bank, facilitating the purchase of metals such as gold and copper as well as downstream oil and gas products.