Displaying items by tag: Loan
IFC loans US$70m to Lafarge subsidiary in Iraq
02 January 2013Iraq: International Finance Coporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is providing a US$70m loan to help renovate a cement factory in Iraq.
The financing will allow Kerbala Cement Manufacturing (KCML), a subsidiary of Lafarge, to rehabilitate a state-owned plant near the city of Kerbala. KCML will undertake the work under a concession agreement with the government of Iraq. The financing is expected to aid Iraq's construction sector.
"This financing will help address the cement shortage that Iraq is facing and help the country meet supply gaps in its infrastructure," said Guy Ellena, IFC Director for Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services in Eastern and Southern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
KCML is a joint venture between Lafarge and MerchantBridge, a London-based private equity group. The financing is being supplemented by a US$20m loan from Proparco, a development financial institution funded by the French Development Agency and private shareholders.
Raysut Cement to take fresh loan of US$166m
18 April 2012Oman: Oman's biggest cement producer Raysut Cement Company (RCC) has decided to take a fresh term loan of US$166m from BankDhofar, BankMuscat and Oman Arab Bank. The loan has been taken to refinance existing borrowing.
RCC Chief Executive Officer Mohammed Ahmed Al Dheeb stated that extending the tenure of the loan from five to 10 years would reduce the instalment and interest rate, which require an outgoing of about US$16 – 18m during the first three years. RCC also said it had taken the new loan in order to protect itself and its subsidiaries from pressure by the existing consortium of bankers to mortgage all of its properties.
In 2011 RCC acquired United Arab Emirates' Pioneer Cement for US$172m, making it one of the largest cement producers in the Gulf region. The acquisition was financed by long-term borrowing from the consortium of bankers led by BankDhofar. The move added 1.7 – 1.8Mt/yr capacity to RCC bringing its total to about 4.7Mt/yr.
RCC posted a net profit of US$38.8m in 2011, a fall of compared to US$53.8m in 2010. It attributed the decline in profit to severe competition in the domestic and the export markets impacting both volume and the price. The company's revenue rose to US$218m in 2011 from US$169m in 2010.
Oman Cement Co secures USD68m loan for upgrades
20 October 2011Oman: BankMuscat has signed an agreement with Oman Cement Company (OCC) for term loans totalling USD68m to refinance and modernise OCC plants.
The loan will be invested in funding the project for upgrading the OCC furnace efficiency and improving equipment of combating pollution, in addition to benefiting from the loan in the recovery of another funding loan.
Jamal bin Shamis al-Hooti, CEO of OCC said that the agreement would help the OCC factory to meet requirements of the Omani market.
Habesha Cement has USD90m loan approved
30 September 2011Ethiopia: The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) has approved a loan of USD90m for Habesha Cement. This represents 70% of the estimated USD120m that the company requires to build the first cement plant to be owned by an Ethiopian company.
Habesha Cement secured the first 30% by selling shares up until 2009 and from a USD79m deal with Northern Heavy Machinery Industries (NHI) Group in October 2010 for the provision of a turnkey cement plant. Habesha Cement was hoping to secure the rest from DBE in 2010.
However the devaluation the Ethiopian Birr by 20% in August 2010 prevented the loan being secured. The board was forced to recommend floating more shares at its second general assembly. Now Habesha Cement has raised a total of USD32m, which is still short by 8.4% of the 30% equity it needs to receive the loan.
"We are confident that we will raise the remaining funds as there are still lots of people asking to buy our shares," said Mesfin Abi, general manager of Habesha Cement. "Our worry was getting the 70% loan approved from the DBE."
The construction of the cement factory, which is to be located in Holeta, west of the capital in Oromia regional state, is to start once NHI is paid 10% (USD7.9m) of the agreed-upon amount, according to the agreement signed in 2010. The advance payment is to be paid in US dollars.
As Habesha Cement does not have access to foreign currency, it has to wait for DBE to grant it the loan so that the bank can make the payment in dollars on its behalf. Once the advance has been paid, NHI is expected to finish the construction of the factory within 20 months according to the agreement.
Habesha Cement expects to produce 85% and 95% in its first two years of production and 1.2Mt at full capacity in its third year, according to its prospectus. Once it starts to produce at full capacity, Habesha Cement will be the third largest producer of cement in Ethiopia next to Mugher Cement and Messebo Cement, which produce 1.9Mt/yr and 1.7Mt/yr respectively.
The total production of cement in the country is expected to reach 27Mt over the five years to 2016, according to the government's draft economic plan. There are currently 11 companies with a combined production of 5.4Mt/yr.
Oman Cement upgrades with USD67m loans
28 September 2011Oman: Oman Cement Company has obtained two loans totalling more than USD67m from BankMuscat to finance a series of upcoming modernisation projects.
The first loan of USD38m will be used to finance its kiln upgrade project and pollution control equipment improvements. The company announced in March 2011 that this would be carried out by two Chinese companies. The second loan of USD30m will pay off an existing loan of the same amount the company currently has with Bank Sohar. A statement released to the Muscat Securities Market (MSM) explains that these loans would 'hopefully reduce the cost of financing its projects.'
Outlining the reasons behind the loans the company's chief financial officer, Deepak Dikshit, stated that the loan to pay off the Bank Sohar loan will be paid back in semi-annual instalments over five years. Dikshit said that the loan for the modernisation works has a two-year moratorium and is also payable in semi-annual instalments over a period of 'effectively seven years.'
Anticipating completion by February 2012, the company will be employing CNBM International Engineering to carry out a USD30m contract to modernise the 29 year old plant, extending its life by another 25 years and increasing its capacity from 2000t/day to 2700t/day.
Oman Cement Company also signed a USD8.5m deal with Sino Environment Engineering Company to modernise the company's pollution control systems to ensure that emissions fall below 10mg/nm3, with work expected to be completed by the end of January 2012.
Indian firm ERCOM Consulting Engineers has been appointed the consultants to the projects.