South America

The largest dairy company in Argentina is looking at calling its existing 2021s in July after filing a new debt shelf, according to market sources in Buenos Aires.

Unigel, the Brazilian petrochemicals company, became the first Latin American corporate name to announce deal plans since early February, and bankers say this will provide a far tougher test of market sentiment than Paraguay's deal.

Land-locked sovereign Paraguay sold the first cross-border bond from a Latin American issuer in exactly a month on Thursday, but though bankers said the deal was positive for the market, they did not think the slim concession was a sign of things to come.

Brazilian energy company Petrobras has tapped the loan market for a $4.35bn revolving credit facility from 17 banks.

Paraguay wrapped up two days of investor meetings on Wednesday, and the South American sovereign will have New York bond syndicate desks wishing it the best of luck if it announces a new deal on Thursday — as expected.

One of the Venezuela analysts most keenly followed by the country’s bondholders will lead opposition candidate Henri Falcón’s economic team in the run up to this year’s presidential elections, which the largest opposition party is boycotting.

After weeks of speculation, Paraguay will finally hit the road next week as Lat Am syndicate bankers point out that spreads in the region have recovered well after a turbulent month.

In the wake of Venezuela’s launch of petro, an oil-backed digital currency under the control of the nation’s central bank, a host of sovereign cryptocurrency products have emerged. For some nations, it is a ploy to circumvent sanctions but, for others, it could provide an important piece of future infrastructure for blockchain based settlement.

After yet another quiet day in Latin American bond markets on Monday, syndicate bankers said that the return of new issuance after a more than two week hiatus would likely commence after two key speeches from Jay Powell, the new US Federal Reserve chair.

Colombia’s bonds have hardly moved in secondaries since Moody’s placed its Baa2 rating on negative outlook last week, although the sovereign’s debt had already widened heavily over the last few weeks.

Venezuela’s cryptocurrency plans were met with a dismissive reaction from Lat Am bond market participants this week, who questioned the value of any currency issued by the defaulting government.

At least two Latin American borrowers opted to delay new issue announcements this week as syndicate bankers suggested the names in the pipeline would be more demanding on pricing than their CEEMEA counterparts that did issue.