EDB and Eurasian Resources Group sign an agreement to finance iron ore supplies
Astana, 4 October 2016. Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) and Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) signed a US $95 million revolving loan facility agreement. The document was signed at the 13th Forum on Inter-Regional Cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia attended by the heads of state.
The facility will provide pre-export finance for iron ore supplies from one of ERG's backbone enterprises, the Sokolov-Sarbai Mining Production Association (SSGPO).
The loan will be used to finance the enterprise's production expenses, including those for the production of iron ore concentrate and pellets for export. The finance has been provided until November 2020, with a possible extension for two years, at a competitive market rate.
"The agreement will ensure greater stability of SSGPO's operation, as well as guaranteed markets for iron ore products in the longer run. The transaction with such an authoritative international financial institution as EDB helps to strengthen ERG's financial standing. The pre-export finance we have received will help to support SSGPO's production load and is an important condition for the fulfilment of its ambitious development strategy," Benedikt Sobotka, Chief Executive Officer of ERG, stated.
"This project is in line with the Bank's mission. Our objective at the Sokolov-Sarbai Mining Production Association is to finance expenses associated with the manufacture of exports," Dmitry Pankin, Chairman of the Management Board at EDB, pointed out. "The products will be supplied to Russia, to the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, which is one of the world's top steel producers and processes primarily Kazakh ore from the Sarbaiskoye and Sokolovskoye deposits. The project will help to promote the development of this inter-country production chain."
Additional Information
Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) is one of the world's leading diversified natural resources company with integrated mining, processing, energy, logistics and marketing operations. The Group has a portfolio of production assets and development projects in fourteen countries on four continents, being one of the major employers in the industry. In 2014 Eurasian Resources Group celebrated its twentieth anniversary. ERG is headquartered in Luxembourg.
Today ERG is the world's largest ferrochrome producer by chrome content and one of the key producers of iron ore worldwide. It is also one of the top ten producers of alumina and one of the largest suppliers of copper and cobalt.
ERG represents one third of Kazakhstan's metals and mining sector. It is also one of the key suppliers of electric power and a major rail operator in Central Asia. Kazakhstan is home to the Group's and the country's major assets such as Kazchrome, SSGPO, Aluminum of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan Aluminum Smelter (KAS), Eurasian Energy Corporation (EEC), Shubarkol Komir, and TransCom. ERG's enterprises in Kazakhstan employ over 61,000 people.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo ERG mines copper and cobalt and processes the ore at Boss Mining, Frontier and Comide. A number of other development and near-production assets, including the Metalkol Roan Tailings Reclamation (RTR) project, are also located in the DRC.
ERG's copper smelter, Chambishi Metals PLC, is a major enterprise in Zambia and a world's leading producer. The Company also has a number of development projects in coal, manganese, bauxite, platinum and fluorspar across the African continent, embracing South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mali and Mozambique.
In Brazil ERG continues development of Pedra de Ferro project, an 18mtpa iron ore production complex.
SSGPO is Kazakhstan's leading iron ore production and processing asset, comprising the Sokolovsky, Sarbaisky, Kacharsky and Korzhinkolsky open-pit mines, the Sokolovsky underground mine, the Alekseevsky dolomite mine, ore preparation and processing factories, pelletizing facilities, mining rail and road transport administrations, a heat and power plant, a machinery and repair plant, and other units and shops.
SSGPO's main operations are the production and processing of iron ore, dolomites, limestone, and crushed rock for construction. Its main products are iron ore pellets and concentrate. The association's crude ore production and processing capacity averages 40 million tonnes a year.
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Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) is an international financial institution founded by Russia and Kazakhstan in January 2006 with the mission to facilitate the development of market economies, sustainable economic growth, and the expansion of mutual trade and other economic ties in its member states. EDB's charter capital totals US $7 billion. The member states of the Bank are the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Tajikistan.
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