HSBC Bank has signed a facility agreement with National Petrochemical Company of Iran (NPC) to provide a $108 million export credit guaranteed by the Export Credits Guarantee Department of the UK Government.
Reinsurance for part of the facility was obtained from SACE, the Italian export credit agency. Additional security will be provided by the assignment of various agreed offtake contracts prior to the first repayment date, and the payment of the proceeds into an escrow account set up with Trinkaus & Burkhardt in Düsseldorf.
The funds will be used to finance the export of equipment and services for the construction of a 600,000-ton per annum styrene monomer plant at Bandar Assaluyeh in Iran. This plant is part of the ninth Olefins project being constructed at a total cost of $1.2 billion. Snamprogetti of Basingstoke in joint venture with Sazeh Consultants of Iran will procure equipment and material and supervise construction on the plant.
This marks HSBC's third export credit transaction with NPC in the last year. In February 2002 HSBC signed a $34 million export credit to Bank Tejarat guaranteed by ECGD, to finance a carbon monoxide plant being constructed by Snamprogetti for NPC at Bandar Iman. In March 2002 HSBC signed an agreement to act as lead arranger in the co-financing of a $155 million export credit facility between Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Bank Mellat to finance an ammonia and urea plant being constructed by Toyo Engineering Corporation and Chiyoda Corporation for NPC.
HSBC Bank Middle East is a principal member of the HSBC Group which has some 8,400 offices in 81 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa and assets. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
