Shipbuilders Get Domestic Support

China Rongsheng Heavy Industries (“China Rongsheng”) has proved to be a clear favourite among Chinese banks, after securing (yet again) another massive facility with China Development Bank (“CDB”). On 22 December 2011, the Hong Kong listed shipbuilder signed a USD 100 million loan facility with CDB, Hong Kong branch. The offshore USD dollar loan marked a significant milestone for CDB Hong Kong that was set up in 2009 as the bank’s launch pad to serve Chinese enterprises
internationally.

One of Taiwan’s largest private shipbuilders, Jong Shyn Shipbuilding, had also found similar success with the domestic lenders, having inked a TWD 1.2 billion (USD 39.7 million) five year syndicated facility through joint bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers – Taichung Commercial Bank, Taiwan Business Bank, and Taiwan Cooperative Bank. Agricultural Bank of Taiwan, Bank of Kaohsiung, Bank SinoPac, Chang Hwa Commercial Bank, Cosmos Bank Taiwan, Hua Nan Commercial Bank and Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank took part as participants.  Continue Reading

China and the Euro Crisis

The problems in the Eurozone have been grabbing headlines for several months now and there are still no solutions in sight. Following the Greek’s Prime Minister’s shocking call for a referendum on the EU bailout package, Greece could be heading one step closer to bankruptcy and banishment from the Eurozone if the people vote against the deal – designed to slash the country’s mountain of debt by nearly a third.

It is an irony, as Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper noted, that the root of the lender’s problem is not due to reckless lending to borrowers with doubtful credit histories like US subprime crisis. Many of them had been compelled to buy these bonds because of regulatory requirements. But now, these banks are forced to accept a 50 percent write-down on their holdings of Greek debt. The banking sector will also have to recapitalize to the tune of around €106 billion and were told to increase core cash reserves to 9% by next summer. Continue Reading

STX Pan Ocean Closes USD 510 million Syndication

South Korea’s STX Pan Ocean has secured a USD 510 million 12 year syndicated loan facility with a consortium of nine domestic and international lenders, comprising ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, China Development Bank, Credit Industrial et Commercial, Deutsche Schiffsbank, DnB NOR Bank, Export-Import Bank of Korea, ING and Standard Chartered.

In October 2010, the company broke new ground and entered into the global pulp transportation market by securing the large consecutive voyage contract with the world’s largest pulp and paper company, Brazil’s Fibria Celulose. To fulfil this 25 year USD 5 billion contract that commences from 2012, STX Pan Ocean ordered 20 pulp carriers from another STX Group company, STX Offshore & Shipbuilding. Proceeds from the latest loan will be used to cover 70% of the total cost in the construction of 16 pulp carriers. Funding for the remaining
four vessels will be secured at a later date.

STX Pan Ocean has been actively raising funds since the start of this year to finance capex requirements through a combination of shipping banks, export credit agencies and domestic corporate bonds. We provide a list of recent transactions in the accompanying table.

China Rongsheng Inks Another Massive Credit Facility

On Monday, Hong Kong listed China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings signed a strategic collaboration agreement worth RMB 30 billion (USD 4.7 billion) with China Development Bank in the Chinese city of Nanjing. A large chunk of the facility will go towards its offshore engineering division. We note that Rongsheng has signed many similar corporative agreements with numerous Chinese lenders including China Exim, Bank of China, China Everbright Bank, China CITIC Bank and Agricultural Bank of China since August 2010, of at least total of over RMB 129.5 billion (USD 20.2 billion!).

We also have more details on Rongsheng’s recently completed USD 220 million offshore syndicated loan. Sole book runner Credit Agricole took up the biggest slice in the loan of USD 40 million while four lead arrangers Societe Generale, Aozora Asia Pacific Finance, Bank of East Asia and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ committed USD 30 million each. Cathay United Bank chipped in USD 20 million. Italian bank Banca Monte Dei Paschi di Siena, Taiwanese lenders Chang Hwa Commercial Bank and Hua Nan Commercial Bank, as well as Metropolitan Bank and Trust in Philippines rounded up the syndication and contributed USD 10 million each. The loan offers the lenders a margin of LIBOR plus 130 basis points and is guaranteed by China Exim Bank.

Chinese Ship Finance – On Hold?

By Nigel Ward, Partner, Norton Rose LLP

In 2008/9 the Chinese banks were looked to as the only remaining hope for international ship finance – the last pool of bank debt that could be harnessed to replace the withdrawing European banks and to satisfy the capital requirements of owners with existing new building orders in the shipyards of the world. Just as many other countries, but on a larger scale, China responded to the global financial crisis by injecting significant liquidity into its domestic market.

A large part of that liquidity was funnelled through the public sector banks and much of it was deployed in support of infrastructure projects sponsored by regional and municipal authorities, to pump up domestic consumption and to fund state owned enterprises in support of export  manufacturing, business investments and the acquisition of strategic resources abroad. Continue Reading

Peter Döhle Seeks Possible USD 1 billion Deal with China Development Bank

At a time when traditional lenders still have a weak appetite for large numbers, shipbuilders are increasingly becoming proactive in assisting their clients with their financing needs through collaborations with either domestic lenders or export credit agencies. Last Tuesday, China Development Bank signed a Cooperation Framework Agreement with Peter Döhle Schiffahrts-KG (“Peter Döhle”) and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, thus equipping the German shipowner with the resources to order new ships of up to USD 1 billion at the Singapore listed
Chinese shipyard over the next five years. The cooperative framework agreement should  however be viewed in a broader context as it is not binding in nature and does not constitute the definitive terms of any transaction.

In a related announcement, Peter Döhle has entered into a letter of intent with Yangzijiang for the construction of eight 10,000 TEU container vessels. This order came just two weeks after Yangzijiang was awarded a USD 700 million shipbuilding contract for the construction of seven 10,000 TEU containerships and an option to build an additional eighteen identical units from US listed Seaspan Corporation. Peter Döhle was founded in 1956 in Hamburg and has a fleet of over 400 vessels that is primarily made up of container vessels and mini bulk carriers.

Corporate Snippets: There Is Money Out There for Ships!

Even though the ship financing environment is widely expected to be cautiously optimistic this year, recent headlines seem to suggest otherwise.

STX Pan Ocean: Last Friday, the Korean dry bulk shipper announced the company is in the process of establishing six special purpose vehicles for the purpose of financing its ships on order. The company will guarantee the debt owed by these SPVs, amounting to USD 358.6 million. The loan agreements will range between 8 to 12 years. Continue Reading

A Noble Breed

Last week, our sister publication Freshly Minted reported on Maersk’s successful EUR 750 million (USD 1.3 billion) five-year bond. This was the shipping conglomerate’s first bond issuance, following a recent equity offering of USD 1.7 billion. In Asia, commodity trading house Noble Group has likewise found tremendous success in raising funds, suggesting that investors and bankers are getting warmed up to investing cash again. Continue Reading

Lease Your Ship in China?

Given the relative lack of funding support from the domestic banks, is leasing a viable option for the Chinese small and medium sized shipowners? There are over 1,400 leasing companies in China, according to an unofficial estimate, but very few actually have the capacity to deal with big ticket items like ships. However over the past two years, state-owned banks have established wholly-owned leasing divisions. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (“ICBC”), China Construction Bank, China Development Bank, China Merchant Bank, Bank of Communications and Min Sheng Bank have all ventured into offering ship leasing services, and many of these specialised leasing units offer leasing services not only to ships but to other asset types such as industrial machinery and construction equipment as well. Bank of China Leasing for example is established in Singapore and offers aircraft leasing services.

There have been varying degrees of success. These state-owned leasing arms prefer to carry out leasing transactions with the first tier shipping companies in China to minimise counterparty risk, but interest has so far been limited, bearing in mind that these top clients have no lack of competitive funding support domestically. Some leasing companies have nonetheless found success with the state-owned power generation enterprises in China who have the need for coal transportation. Continue Reading

All Eyes on China

In the last edition of Marine Money Asia, we reported that Yantai Raffles has secured USD 150 million from China Development Bank. This week, we have another transaction that involves a Chinese bank supporting Chinese shipping interests. Bank of China (“BOC”) has sealed a cooperation agreement with state owned China State Shipbuilding Corporation (“CSSC”).

Under the terms of the agreement, BOC will provide CSSC a credit line of RMB 80 billion (USD 11 billion) to support the latter’s businesses in shipbuilding and ship repair. In addition, BOC will leverage on its buyer credit business to support CSSC’s exports. BOC has been an instrumental player in the development of the Chinese shipbuilding industry. All in all, the bank has provided domestic shipbuilders with over RMB 130 billion (USD 19 billion).