As part of the joint Government-Regions-Chamber System mission in Brazil, which we reported on in the article "Brazil, the new Eldorado”, Sace announced one pipeline di 4,6 billion euros of new business in the country.
This news confirms the role that Brazil plays for SACE; in the last year, in fact, it has become the fourth foreign market in the portfolio with a growth of 46% compared to 2010. To better control the Brazilian market, SACE has its own office in São Paolo which handles relations with companies operating mainly in the sectors ofoil & gas (50,3% of transactions), mining (15,4%) and of communication (10,2%).
From the point of view of risk profiles, Brazil has achieved significant improvements from 2007 to today. According to the SACE Research Office, in fact, Brazil is the one with the best business climate among the BRICS countries: specifically, the risk of non-payment both for large companies (-12%) and for SMEs (-29%); the risks of political-normative instability they decreased with reference to expropriations (-20%), breach of contract (-20%) and restrictions on the transfer of capital (-12%); finally the risk of political violence (-8%).
Below is a list of SACE's main operations:
OK (Brazilian mining group): guarantee on a 300 million dollar loan in favor of the Brazilian company Vale to foster commercial relations between the company and Italian companies, in particular the large number of small and medium-sized enterprises operating in the country.
Illy Coffee: 7,3 million euro guarantee on a loan granted to Illy Caffè to consolidate its presence in the markets of Brazil, China and Europe and support research and development costs.
Rivoli: 20 million dollar guarantee for earthmoving, asphalt paving and bridge construction works in the state of Tocantins in Brazil assigned to the Veronese company Rivoli.
Petrobras: 500 million dollar guarantee to support the competitiveness of Italian companies involved in projects to exploit new deposits on the Atlantic coast.
Ghella: guarantee on the loan of 25 million reais granted by Banco Itaú BBA to the Ghella Group for the construction of the Caraguatatuba-Taubaté gas pipeline (Gastau). The transaction was the first concluded by SACE in Brazil in local currency.
Itau BBA: guarantee on the 400 million dollar loan in favor of Itaù BBA, in consideration of the high volume of business intermediated by the bank between Brazil and Italy.
Banco Nacional do Desenvolvimento Economico Social (BNDES): agreement to promote economic exchange between Italy and Brazil, SACE's guarantee on a ceiling of 1,1 billion dollars made available by BNDES to Italian companies operating in Brazil and for Brazilian companies importing from Italy.
Interamerican Development Bank (IADB): cooperation agreement which provides for the SACE guarantee on loans granted by the IADB for investment projects, mainly in infrastructure, in Latin America and the Caribbean.
