Trader and shipowner Trafigura has topped up its finances with a return to the Chinese bond market.
The Swiss commodities giant said it had sold a CNY 1.5bn ($205m) tranche of so-called “panda” debt maturing over three years.
“This marks the successful return to the panda bond market for Trafigura after a three-year period,” the group added.
Trafigura said the “significant size” of the financing demonstrated a strong appetite from Chinese and international investors, including commercial banks, asset managers and securities firms.
“Since 2018, Trafigura has been a regular international issuer in the panda bond market, which offers competitive pricing for long-term capital and adds to the diversification of Trafigura’s sources of funding,” said Claire Chen, Trafigura’s chief financial officer in China.
A total of CNY 5bn in potential panda bonds has been registered with the National Association of Financial Market Institutional Investors, allowing regular tranches to be sold in the future.
Approval has been received from the People’s Bank of China for the bond’s proceeds to be repatriated offshore, where the funds will be used for general corporate purposes, Trafigura added.
The group said 13 investors bought the notes, with Bank of China acting as lead bookrunner, working with Bank of Communications, China Merchants Bank and Postal Savings Bank.
Last week, Trafigura claimed a first by loading a midsize gas carrier with ammonia alongside propane.
The company said the operation, which involved fertiliser company CF Industries, helped show how low-carbon ammonia can be carried to ports that may not need a full cargo of the commodity for its use as a clean fuel.
Trafigura added that co-loading could help support the use of ammonia as a low-carbon fuel for shipping and for co-firing in coal-powered plants.
The operation was on Purus Marine’s 40,000-cbm Green Power (built 2023), which hauled LPG and CF Industries’ ammonia in separate tanks to Europe.(Copyright)
