Brazil's Santos Port to get $679 mln IFC syndicated loan

Brazil's Santos port, the country's busiest, will get $679 million in loans organized by the International Finance Corporation to build a new container terminal, the IFC said Thursday.


The $908 million container terminal project is being developed by Brasil Terminal Portuario SA, which is owned by London-based Terminal Investment Limited and Rotterdam-based APM Terminals BV. The IFC will directly loan $97 million for the project. The additional $582 million in syndicated loans will be provided through BNP Paribas SA (BNPQY, BNP.FR), Credit Agricole SA (CRARY, ACA.FR), DnB Nor Bank (DNBNOR.OS), ING Capital, KFW Ipex Bank and Banco Santander (BSBR, SANB4.BR), the IFC said in an emailed statement.


The loan is part of larger efforts by the IFC to help spur Brazil's economy, which expanded 7.5% last year. The IFC, a unit of the World Bank, is examining other possible investments in the country's infrastructure, including its rail, airport, and water and sewage systems.


The Santos port project "is one example of IFC investments in infrastructure, but we are considering other opportunities to participate in terms of investment," said Gabriel Goldschmidt, manager of infrastructure for Latin America for IFC.


Goldschmidt said that the IFC may announce additional financing for other Brazil projects this year, without giving details.


However, the size of future investments will likely not be comparable to Thursday's announcement, said the IFC's John Groesbeek, head of syndication for Latin America.


The syndicated loan for Santos is the biggest investment made by the IFC in port development, according to the statement.


While banks are once again eager to lend for Brazilian projects, maturities for those loans have yet to return to pre-crisis levels, Groesbeek said. Before the 2008 crisis banks were lending money to "good projects" with maturities of 15 to 17 years, which dropped to less than 10 years during the crisis.


"Now it's come back to 10 to 12 years, so maturities might not have fully returned yet to those available before the crisis, but it's moving in the right direction."


Among the investment possibilities the IFC is examining is expanding the country's airports. President Dilma Rousseff said in an interview published Thursday that she would open the airports to private operators, providing licenses to build new terminals at existing airports or build new airports wholesale.


"Clearly the airport sector in Brazil will require significant investment and expansion and it is an area that is interesting for IFC and we are ready and wiling to study opportunities,"


Goldschmidt said.


The IFC may also provide some financing for the high-speed train project, which aims to link Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and alleviate air traffic between Brazil's major cities. However, both projects are still in early stages and will require closer study when details are defined.
(Source:http://en.portnews.ru)