JB's weekly round up - 09 July 2014

Welcome to the weekly round-up of the TXF news service - coming to you from Fin4Ag, Kenya

 Glückwunsch an Deutschland!
A great game, a great tournament, and ultimately the best team won – congratulations to Germany. Judging by the pictures we have received from our German colleague Herr Kloiber, the party will be going on for a while. 
 
And the good news doesn’t stop there... On 9th October TXF will be in Frankfurt to host an 80-person ECA Finance event, and German exporters attend for free! Please email us to register your interest, or click here to view further details.
 
 Germany’s KfW IPEX-Bank as prolific as its football team
It is not just Philipp Lahm and co who have had a busy few weeks. KfW IPEX-Bank, the German project and export finance bank, has arranged more than $1.25 billion worth of financing across four projects in the US, Philippines, Canada and the UK…
 
 Big loan for Big River Steel
The largest is a $794 million, 10-year loan for US-based Big River Steel for the development of a new sheet steel mill in Osceola, Arkansas. Big River Steel, the OECD-based borrower and client, will use the funds to support the export of core components and equipment from Düsseldorf-based SMS Siemag. Germany’s export credit insurer Euler Hermes will provide cover.
 
It is a significant deal for the exporter, one of the country’s largest users of export finance, who will be providing a complete, scrap-based, sheet steel production facility. Read the article for more information on the capacity of the planned steel plant, as well as comments from the borrower.
 
 Siemens finds success in South-East Asia
The second is a $265 million loan complemented by an export credit guarantee from Euler Hermes and has a tenor of approximately 14 years. The funds are for the construction of a 414MW ‘state-of-the-art’ San Gabriel combined cycle gas-fired power (CCP) plant, located in Batangas City, in the Philippines. Siemens is the principal contractor and exporting company and details of its plans for the plant are included in the news item.
 
 Enercon joins the financing fun in Canada 
The third KfW IPEX-Bank transaction is comprised of two loan packages, amounting to $194.5 million, to finance the Témiscouata I and II wind farms in Québec, Canada. The borrowers in this instance are Boralex, a Canadian power producer, and the Témiscouata Regional County Municipality (RCM), while the modern wind turbines will be produced by Germany’s Enercon. Full details of the loan packages and wind farms are included in the TXF news item.
 
 German energy projects in high demand
Finally, KfW IPEX is providing a $96.8 million loan for the Crook Hill Wind Farm project in Lancashire, UK, where it is acting as the sole mandated lead arranger. The financing will allow for the purchase of 11 modern 3.4 MW type wind turbines, delivered by the German manufacturer Senvion. See the article for full details.
 
 Ex-Im takes the direct route
Across the Atlantic, US Ex-Im is providing a $64.5 million direct loan to Astidey, in Montevideo, Uruguay, for the purchase of US-manufactured wind-turbine generators exported by Gamesa, headquartered in Feasterville-Trevose, Pennsylvania. It is the bank’s second wind transaction in Uruguay and is predicted to support 400 jobs. Perhaps more interestingly, it is another sign that US Ex-Im’s direct lending shows no sign of abating. Read some comments from US Ex-Im president Fred Hochberg here.
 
 Afrexim and SocGen team to expand Abdijan port
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), together with a syndicate of commercial banks, has arranged a $271.9 million bridge financing facility for Cote d’Ivoire’s state-owned Port Autonome d’Abidjan (PAA) to enable the company to expand facilities at the port of Abidjan.
 
Under the terms of the agreement, signed by PAA and the participating banks, Afreximbank and Société Générale Cote d’Ivoire will each provide $70 million. Read the news item for more information.
 
 Double deal for MIGA in Africa
The political risk insurance and credit enhancement arm of the World Bank, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), has struck a double deal in Africa with power deals in Cameroon and Kenya. In the latter MIGA is continuing its support for the improvement and modernisation of Kenya’s power sector with insurance of a loan to Gulf Power Limited, an independent power producer (IPP). Read more details of this insurance programme here.
 
In the former, MIGA is: 1) Providing guarantees of $180 million to Energy Cameroon Coöperatief for its equity investment in Sonel (the privatised national electric utility); and 2) Providing breach of contract cover for a period of up to 20 years for equity investments made by Globeleq Africa in the 216MW Kribi gas-fired power plant and the Dibamba 88MW heavy fuel oil plant.
 
 Electronic Bill of Lading making waves
Singaporean shipping company Pacific International Lines has utilised Bolero’s cloud platform technology for an electronic bill of lading (eBL) as part of a BHP Billiton shipment from Australia to China, reflecting a growing move towards eBLs in global trade.
 
The boost follows in the footsteps of another boost in May, when the shipping association BIMCO recognised the increased use of eBL by adopting a clause that – for all intents and purposes – grants the eBL the same status as a paper bill of lading under the terms of the charter party agreements. Read more details here.
 
 StanChart lead the senior market moves
Standard Chartered has appointed Michael Vrontamitis as its new head of trade, product management, in a fortnight that has seen a few senior personnel changes. Vrontamitis will be based in Hong Kong and report to George Nast, global head, product management, transaction banking.
 
Vrontamitis has been with StanChart for nearly two decades and will be responsible for driving overall trade finance P&L and strategy across the bank’s global network in his next chapter with the bank.
 
Elsewhere, Gazprom Export has appointed Elena Burmistrova as its new director general. In a statement, the company said the decision to promote the former Glencore employee was made “due to a considerable increase in the day-to-day business and its geographical expansion, as well as product diversification within the company’s international activities and, particularly, in Gazprom Export”. You can read more about that move here.
 
Last but not least, Andras Simor has been chosen to be the new vice-president finance and chief financial officer (CFO) at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The appointment is effective from October 2014, when he will replace Manfred Schepers, who has held the position for eight years. See more details in the news item.

 And finally…
The Fin4Ag conference kicks off this week in Nairobi, offering international banks a rare chance to meet the most forward-thinking cooperatives and traders in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific – all in one place.
 
With close to 900 (!) delegates from over 80 countries registered, this year’s event has turned into the biggest agriculture finance conference ever organised. TXF is proud to be the official media partner to such an event and you can follow our live coverage of the event here as well as on our Twitter feed here.
 
The three-day main event opens on Tuesday with an address by the President of Kenya, HE Uhuru Kenyatta. The Rockefeller Foundation also brings with it over 50 ministers and high-level government officials.