Displaying items by tag: Loan

Mexico: The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has granted Cemex a loan of Euro106m to support the cement producer’s sustainable investment programs in emerging markets. The IFC will grant Cemex funding for projects designed to enhance environmental performance that were completed in 2014 and 2015 as well as on-going during 2016, which are part of the capital expenditure plan previously communicated by Cemex. Approximately 60% of the funds will be allocated for projects related to the reduction of Cemex’s greenhouse gas emissions, while the remainder of the funds will be allocated to cover improvements to Cemex’s overall air emission controls.

“IFC’s financing to Cemex sustainable programs is part of our commitment to invest in critical climate-smart solutions across emerging markets,” said Liz Bronder, IFC Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “We are encouraged by Cemex’s innovative initiatives and look forward to the company’s leadership expanding the climate change agenda among global key players”.

The IFC is joining Cemex’s facilities agreement dated 29 September 2014, as amended and restated maturing in 2020. This transaction increases the currently outstanding commitments under this credit agreement by approximately Euro106m and diversifies Cemex’s sources of funding.

Spain: The refinancing of a Euro825m loan of cement producer Cementos Portland Valderrivas has stalled. Fomento de Construcciones & Contratas SA (FCC) offered a 10% ‘haircut’ to the loan which matures in July 2016 but the offer has been rejected by the company’s creditors. FCC, a Spanish civil engineering group, owns an 80% stake in Cementos Portland Valderrivas.

More than 50% of the debt of Portland is now in hands of so called ‘vulture funds’ such as Apollo, Davidson and Avenue whose return requirements are different than those of traditional banks. After a recent Euro709m capital hike FCC has set aside around Euro300m to appease creditors, according to the Expansión newspaper.

Indonesia: State-owned cement producer Semen Baturaja has received a US$115m bank loan to build a new cement plant in Sumatra. The plant will have a cement production capacity of 1.85Mt/yr and it will be operational by June 2017. The project is expected to cost US$252m, according to Investor Daily. The plant was originally announced in 2014.

Russia: Eurocement and Sberbank CIB, Sberbank’s corporate and investment banking business have agreed on conditions for restructuring the company’s loan portfolio. The restructuring involves postponing the repayment of loans worth a total of US$592m and US$360m for up to six years, as well as optimising interest rates for the company’s loan portfolio at Sberbank.

“Sberbank CIB is a strategic partner of Eurocement. This agreement will help us cut debt servicing costs and minimise the influence of negative macroeconomic factors on our company,” commented Mikhail Skorokhod, President of Eurocement. The conditions for restructuring the debt portfolio will enable Eurocement to take a more flexible approach to financing its operational activities and help it achieve strategic goals.

China: Shanshui Cement's largest shareholder, Tianrui Group, has provided a US$9.3m loan to the company for interest repayment of the onshore bond of its Shandong subsidiary, Shandong Shanshui Cement Group, which defaulted in November 2015.

The loan facility is unsecured, interest free and has no fixed repayment terms, and has been remitted to the bank account designated for the bond's repayment, according to Shanshui. It didn't mention when the company could also repay the principal of the bonds, which amounted to US$307m, or whether Tianrui will provide further funding. Shanshui defaulted on the bond payment and triggered a cross default of the company's other debt after a shareholder struggle. Shanshui's board, which is now controlled by Tianrui, still faces a mounting management dispute over its Shandong subsidiary with Shanshui's founder and second-largest shareholder, the Zhang family.

Mexico: Grupo Cementos Chihuahua has secured a five-year loan of US$194m to refinance debt, according to Esmerk Latin American News. The company is rolling over a syndicated loan due to expire in 2018.

Saudi Arabia: Arabian Cement Company has signed an agreement with Saudi British Bank for US$107m of Islamic financing. The loan is to be repaid over a period of five years, including a one-year grace period. Arabian Cement said that it will use the loan to finance part of the first phase of an expansion project to install two new cement mills.

Guinea-Bissau: Maxime Cardoz and HeidelbergCement subsidiary Scancem has applied to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for a loan of Euro11m to help finance Guinea-Bissau's first cement grinding plant. The project is estimated to cost a total of Euro22m.

The Cardoz Cimentos de Bissau project is 60% under the ownership of Cardoz and 40% by Scancem. Its location will be 1.5km from the port of Bissau, a plant location in an area which at present absorbs 50% of the country's cement consumption. A decision on the funding will likely be finalised on 27 February 2015.

Cement consumption in Guinea-Bissau is dependent upon imports, mainly sourced from Senegal via the country's sole port at Bissau and accounts for 80% of its international trade.

Kenya: Seruji Limited, a distribution subsidiary of Bamburi Cement, has borrowed US$5m from TriLinc Global to finance its activities at a time when competition in the industry has reached new heights.

"TriLinc funded a US$5m trade finance transaction at a fixed interest rate of 14.75% to a Kenyan cement distributor engaged in the production and distribution of cement," said TriLinc. "The transaction, set to mature on 17 March 2015, is supported by inventory, receivables and other liquid assets." TriLinc added that Seruji met one of its investment criteria of being a small or medium enterprise (SME) in its growth stage.

"Founded in 2008, the borrower is a growing Kenyan cement distributor that utilises cutting-edge energy-efficient and eco-friendly cement grinding technology to improve sustainability," said TriLinc, which has also invested in Zambian, Namibian and South African SMEs. Kenyan companies are increasingly using foreign-based lenders with the capacity to lend larger amounts and at a lower cost than local financiers.

Vietnam: The World Bank is expected to provide US$200m in loans for Vietnamese cement plants to invest in waste heat recovery (WHR) systems according to the Vietnam National Cement Association (VNCA). The VNCA said the financing pledge is part of the bank's programme to finance efficient energy consumption for the local cement industry.

At present only Holcim and Ha Tien 2 in southern Vietnam, and Chinfon and Cong Thanh in northern Vietnam have invested in WHR systems. In April 2014 the VNCA admitted that there had been a delay to build WHR systems in all cement plants with a clinker production capacity of 2500t/day by 2015.