Washington, D.C. / Mexico City, December 20, 2012
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is providing $285 million and mobilizing an additional $350 million for Braskem Idesa S.A.P.I. to construct and operate Etileno XXI, a greenfield petrochemical plant that will be located in the Mexican state of Veracruz.
Etileno is the largest project-finance transaction in the history of the petrochemical industry in the Americas, and Mexico’s first major private sector petrochemicals project in more than 20 years. It will help improve Mexico’s global competitiveness in the industry, and is expected to create 9,000 jobs during the construction phase as well as 3,000 direct and indirect jobs when operations begin in 2015.
IFC is one of seven financial institutions acting as Anchor Agency Mandated Lenders to the Etileno XXI project, contributing with $ 3.2 billion in project financing. The seven entities, in addition to IFC, are Banco Nacional de Comercio Exterior from Mexico (Bancomext), Nacional Financiera from Mexico (Nafinsa), Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimiento Econômico e Social (BNDES), Export Development Canada (EDC), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and Italy’s Export Credit Agency (SACE). The total project cost is $4.5 billion.
IFC’s long-term financing includes a 16-year, $285-million loan for its own account, and a 14-year, $350-million loan provided by a syndicate of 5 Mandated Lead Arrangers comprised of Banco do Brasil, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, HSBC, Korea Development Bank, and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Founded in 2010, Braskem Idesa S.A.P.I. is a joint venture, formed by the Brazilian Braskem S.A., the largest producer of thermoplastic resins in the Americas, and Grupo Idesa,S.A. de C.V., a leading Mexican petrochemical company.
“IFC is bringing its global expertise in financing the petrochemical sector worldwide, in addition to its internationally-recognized environmental and social standards,” said Patricio Gutierrez, Braskem Idesa Finance Director and CFO. “Its presence, along with the other Anchor Mandated Lenders, was critical to financing this landmark project in Mexico’s petrochemical sector, not only for the direct financing provided, but also in helping to mobilize other sources of funding.”
IFC’s financing will help address the need for investment in Mexico’s polyethylene and petrochemical industries. Today, over 65 percent of demand for polyethylene in Mexico is met by imports. Polyethylene is a basic building block in the modern manufacturing sector. Along with other petrochemicals, it is used to manufacture pharmaceutical bottles and equipment, food containers, and pipes and conduits in the construction sector.
“IFC’s support to Etileno XXI is part of our strategy to help improve the competitiveness of key economic sectors in Mexico, and create jobs,” said Oscar Chemerinski, IFC’s Director for Manufacturing, Agribusiness and Services in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan Africa. “With this financing, we are also supporting the government of Mexico’s plan to increase cooperation with the private sector and to attract state-of-the-art technology and external investments to the natural-resource sector.”
The plant, to be located in municipality of Nanchital, Veracruz, will include an ethane cracker with a capacity of 1.05 million tons per year of ethylene as well as three polyethylene plants. Pemex Gas y Petroquímica Básica (PGPB) will supply the ethane feedstock for the cracker. The plant will allow Mexico to produce locally more value-added petrochemical products in the downstream gas supply chain.
IFC’s strategy in Mexico is focused on investment and advisory projects that help accelerate growth, improve competitiveness, promote social inclusion, and reduce poverty. Between Fiscal Years 2010 and 2012, IFC invested $1.2 billion in Mexico, including $895 million from its own account and $350 million in mobilization. In 2011 alone, IFC projects in the country supported over 43,000 jobs, generated power for over 760,000 people, and reached more than 180,000 patients.
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. We help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing investment, mobilizing capital in international financial markets, and providing advisory services to businesses and governments. In FY12, our investments reached an all-time high of more than $20 billion, leveraging the power of the private sector to create jobs, spark innovation, and tackle the world’s most pressing development challenges. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
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About Braskem Idesa S.A. P.I.
Founded in 2010, Braskem Idesa is a petrochemical company that is developing the Etileno XXI Project, which is expected to begin operations in the first half of 2015. The petrochemical complex will produce polyethylene, a feedstock for the construction, consumer, automotive, and agricultural industries.
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