(Mining.COM, Toronto, 21 November 2024) Troilus Gold (TSX: TLG) continues to receive the financial backing of global export credit agencies (ECAs), this time from Export Development Canada (EDC), to support the development of its copper-gold project in Quebec. On Thursday, the company announced a new letter of intent (LOI) from EDC for up to $300 million. This, together with the LOIs recently signed with the export credit agencies of Germany, Finland and Sweden, brings the total potential funding to $1.3 billion.
Sweden
Northvolt gets $5bn green loan for European EV push
Northvolt AB, the Swedish battery maker that counts BMW, Volvo Car and Volkswagen among its clients, has secured a $5 billion (€4.59 billion) green loan to bolster production and expand recycling efforts. The package backed by the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank is among the largest green loans on record. Northvolt is central for European efforts to establish an electric-vehicle supply chain that can rival Asia and the US. The company plans to use the money to expand production at its main Swedish factory in Skelleftea and grow an adjacent recycling plant. It’s funding is guaranteed by export credit agencies and provided by 23 commercial banks in addition to the Nordic Investment Bank and the European Investment Bank, which is lending slightly over $1 billion (€942.6 million). A significant portion of the loan is covered with certain guarantees combined with direct funding from the Swedish National Debt Office, Euler Hermes, the Export-Import Bank of Korea, Japan’s Nippon Export and Investment Insurance, or NEXI, and the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation.
H2 Green Steel Boden: Complex financing includes Euler Hermes
(TXF News, London, 23 January) H2 Green Steel (H2GS) – the world’s second green hydrogen mega project – has taken a similar approach to Neom for its hydrogen-powered steel manufacturing project in Boden, Sweden. The simple math – 1% overall cost increase for 40% emissions decrease on the final manufactured product – has enabled H2GS to get a long list of very solid credits signed up to term sheets or steel supply agreements. The multi-sourced debt facilities backing the €6 billion-plus project was signed on 21 December 2023 and are expected to reach financial close in Q1. The overall financing for H2GS comprises €4.15 billion of senior and junior debt… and debt facilities for the project comprised of two €1.2 billion 12.75-year tranches with 95% and 80% cover provided by Euler Hermes and Riksgalden (Swedish National debt Office) respectively, a €200 million 12.75-year direct loan from the EIB, a €250 million 12.75-year term loan, a €300 million 12.75-year revolving credit and a €400 million 12.75-year contingency tranche.
Swedish “Green” Steel Plant Secures $7 Billion in Financing
(Thomasnet, New York, 29 January 2024) The developer of the world’s first large-scale plant that will manufacture “green” steel has now secured some $7 billion in financing for the project to date, company officials announced. More than 20 lenders signed onto the debt financing, including the European Investment Bank, the Swedish Export Credit Corp., and numerous commercial banks. The new equity funding, meanwhile, came from the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund and Siemens Financial Services, among others. H2 Green Steel recently disclosed new debt financing agreements worth $4.6 billion and said that its equity funding had increased by $325 million — up to $2.3 billion. It has also received a grant from a European Union energy innovation initiative worth about $270 million. H2, founded in Stockholm in 2020, aims to replace the use of fossil fuels in heavy industry with hydrogen fuel produced with renewable electricity, thereby slashing greenhouse gas emissions. The company says its steelmaking process reduces carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95% compared to conventional steel production, which uses blast furnaces fired by coke, a coal-based fuel.
World’s largest car theft and the Swedish ECA
(The Times of India, Delhi, 9 November 2023) According to the Swedish Export Credit Agency, the interest and unpaid penalties on 1,000 Volvo cars, have racked up a breathtaking USD 322 million still owed. The 1974 order for the batch of 1000 Volvo 144 sedans to be used as taxis was given by Kim Jong Un’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung. Later, the Swedish government paid Volvo in full from public funds but is still waiting to retrieve the money from North Korea. The batch of vehicles, a significant component of a 1974 agreement, is now at the centre of what is considered to be the ‘biggest car heist’ in history.
ECAs and Reconstruction in Ukraine
(Ukraine Recovery, London, 22 June 2023) The Ukraine Recovery Conference 2023 was co-chaired by the UK and Ukraine in London on 21-22 June 2023. The conference was a continuation of the cycle of annual events, with URC 2022 conducted jointly with Switzerland in Lugano. The conference focussed on mobilising international support for Ukraine’s economic and social stabilisation and recovery from the effects of war, including through emergency assistance for immediate needs and financing private sector participation in the reconstruction process. URC 2023 showcased the strength and potential of the private sector in supporting Ukraine to “build back better”, working alongside a broad coalition of governments, international organisations and civil society. URC 2023 brought together Leaders, Ministers, and representatives of 59 states, 32 international organisations and international financial institutions, over 500 businesses, and 130 civil society organisations. Press articles this month (October) highlight Swedish, French, Dutch and Canadian support for aid to Ukraine: The Swedish government proposes to allocate SEK 333 million (about $30 million at the current exchange rate) for special export credit guarantees for companies trading with Ukraine; The French state-owned insurance company Bpifrance Assurance Export will insure French companies ready to invest in Ukraine and its recovery without waiting for the war to end; The Netherlands is allocating EUR 102 million for the third support package of assistance to Ukraine in 2023; Export Development Canada, without announcing specific funding has noted that it continues to closely monitor the situation in Ukraine, engage with Canadian exporters and qualified investors interested in the market and provide support through its suite of products.
Could ECAs finance cleaner steel & industrial hubs?
(Clean Technica, Bradenton FL, 15 August 2023) The climate finance community should be watching Sweden. Swedish steelmaker H2 Green Steel (H2GS), founded in 2020 to produce (using renewable hydrogen), is completing a landmark €5 billion+ fundraise for its first plant in Boden, near the Arctic Circle in northern Sweden, an industrial project finance template is taking shape and it’s important: heavy industry produces 30% of global carbon emissions and steelmaking is 7% alone. Export credit agencies may be less nimble than private lenders, due to the government oversight and political constraints they must operate within. But for these first-of-a-kind deals, they are proving to be powerful allies, both as debt guarantors and direct lenders. In the H2GS deal, Swedish ECA Svensk Exportkredit participated in the €3.3 billion senior debt tranche alongside commercial banks. Meanwhile, the core ECA, Allianz-owned Euler Hermes, committed to guaranteeing €1.5 billion of the senior debt.
India’s Reliance Jio ties up $2.2 bn funding from Sweden’s EKN for 5G equipment
(Business India Today, Noida, 6 August 2023) “Reliance and its subsidiary Jio Infocomm JIL tied up its first ever Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN) supported facilities of $2.2 billion equivalent making it the largest cover ever provided by EKN for a deal to a private corporate globally,” Reliance Industries said, adding that the proceeds of the facilities shall be utilised to finance the equipment and services in relation to JIL’s pan-India 5G roll out. Jio has committed to an investment of Rs 2 lakh crore to fulfill its ambitious pan-India 5G rollout plan, the company said. Jio started 5G network rollouts in October 2022. “Jio has launched its True 5G services across 2,300-plus cities/towns as of March 2023 and targets to achieve pan-India coverage by December 2023,” the annual report said.
SWEDWATCH: The EU must urgently review its outdated policy on export credits
(Swedwatch, Stockholm, 27 April 2023) Despite promises to make financial flows consistent with a low-carbon economy, EU member states continue to provide financial support to the fossil fuel industry through export credits. It is time that the EU Commission replaces its outdated policy with new and ambitious regulation, prohibiting export support to oil and gas, Swedwatch argues in a new policy paper. “Export credit agencies are the world’s largest international public financiers of fossil fuels. In the EU, the lack of an ambitious regulatory framework allows for oil and gas projects to continue to be supported through state-backed export finance, undermining EU contributions to climate goals. This gap needs to be urgently addressed“, says Davide Maneschi, climate change program officer at Swedwatch. Export credit agencies (ECAs) have a critical role in the energy transition, as they de-risk large scale infrastructure and energy projects. However, in the period 2019-2021, some six years after the Paris Agreement was signed, G20 export credit agencies provided seven times more support for exports of fossil fuel projects than for clean energy. In an April 27 policy paper Swedwatch calls on the European Commission to promptly initiate a reform of the regulatory framework on the activities of ECAs, ensuring that they are aligned with the Paris Agreement 1.5°C climate change mitigation goals and EU climate objectives.
Swedish Export Credit (SEK) Securities Exchange Act Form 6-K
(Street Insider, Birmingham, MI, 1 February 2023) SEK Year End Report 2022: Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized. February 1, 2023 Swedish Export Credit Corporation, Magnus Montan, Chief Executive Officer. SEK has maintained a strong business flow during the year, including in the fourth quarter. New lending in the fourth quarter amounted to Skr 34.8 billion, and Skr 133.2 billion for the full year, which was the highest ever new lending volume in the space of one year… Overall, the credit portfolio has an extremely high credit quality and SEK often uses risk mitigation measures, primarily through guarantees from the Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN) and other government export credit agencies in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which explains the low provision ratio…. New lending Skr 133.2 billion (2021: Skr 77.0 billion), new green lending Skr 7.4 billion [Note “green” is 9.6% of all new lending] (2021: Skr 11.5 billion; new green borrowing Skr 9.0 billion (2021: Skr 6.1 billion)
