South America

Continued strong inflows into emerging markets debt funds are encouraging riskier Latin American companies to turn to debt markets for funding — even as political risks weigh heavily on the outlook for certain credits. While some buyers think they are picking up rare bargains, others are concerned that they’re becoming overexposed to the region.

Chile’s head of international finance told GlobalCapital this week that the country was likely to tap euro and dollar bond markets again this year after it increased its 2021 funding needs by $8bn.

Frigorífico Concepción, the Paraguay beef exporter, sold its largest and tightest ever bond on Wednesday as it looked to continue its rapid expansion.

Interchile, the Chilean electricity transmission company owned by Colombian government-controlled conglomerate ISA, began investor calls on Tuesday ahead of a potential green bond issue.

LatAm bond buyers said that MC Brazil Downstream Trading’s debut bond issue on Tuesday had offered a rare chance to pick up yield in large size, as the company’s $1.8bn 10 year was spotted a point and a half higher in the grey market after pricing.

Compañía de Minas Buenaventura will provide a stern test of appetite for Peruvian risk under new leftist president Pedro Castillo this week as it seeks an inaugural bond issue that it will use to repay a tax liability.

After Brazilian pulp and paper producer Suzano became the first Latin American company to issue a second sustainability-linked bond, its treasury director told GlobalCapital he expects investors to differentiate more and more between SLB issuers based on the issuer’s ESG credentials.

MC Brazil Downstream, a vehicle through which UAE sovereign investment fund Mubadala is acquiring a major refinery from Brazil oil giant Petrobras, is planning to sell $1.8bn of 10 year senior secured notes, according to rating agency reports.

Brazilian meatpacking company Minerva returned to debt markets on Tuesday with a $400m tap of a 10 year bond first issued amid turbulent markets in March. The tap was more easily digested, coming at a calmer moment.

Sergio Díaz-Granados, executive director for Colombia at the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), will become the new executive president of Latin American multilateral lender CAF in September after obtaining more votes than Argentine candidate Christian Asinelli.

Colombia’s sovereign bonds experienced a modest sell-off on Friday after Fitch become the second rating agency in less than two months to downgrade the government’s credit rating to sub-investment grade. But analysts noted that the market was already largely expecting the downgrade, which is likely to limit further widening.

Brazilian bank BTG Pactual added $250m to its January 2025 notes on Thursday, targeting retail investors as it sought to raise shorter dated funding than on its last bond market outing at the start of the year.