South America

South Africa is experiencing a difficult week in credit markets, with credit default swaps that reference its debt hitting their widest point for two years.

Project bond supply could be on the way from Colombia after Goldman Sachs committed to provide $1.2bn in the first leg of financing for the country’s $25bn so-called 4G infrastructure programme.

Brazilian refractories and minerals producer Magnesita Refratarios will buy back over three quarters of its outstanding bonds after a tender expired at the end of last week.

Whether prices in Brazilian bonds really have found a floor or not, several bond investors say they are now finding value in the country’s debt markets after a sustained sell-off was halted by a better-than-expected downgrade from Moody’s this week.

Latin American supranational Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) priced a Sfr200m ($203m) eight year bond on Tuesday with its lowest coupon on an international bond deal.

Ukraine’s sovereign debt restructuring, Argentinian primary elections and a potential Turkish coalition government are keeping debt bankers alert while the primary bond market takes its summer break.

For the second time in two weeks a negative rating action on the Brazilian sovereign triggered a positive reaction in the country’s securities after Moody’s downgrade the country from Baa2 to Baa3.

Latin American supranational Corporación Andina de Fomento (CAF) priced a Sfr200m ($203m) eight year bond on Monday with its lowest coupon ever on an international bond deal.

Colombian state oil company Ecopetrol has hired María Fernanda Suárez Londoño, a former head of the country’s public credit unit, as corporate vice-president of finance and strategy.

Brazil’s rapidly falling currency may be a symptom of ever increasing economic pain in Latin America’s largest economy, but it is lending a helping hand to the country’s exporters — in particular food company BR Foods (BRF).

Iochpe Maxion, the Brazilian group that makes more vehicle wheels than any other company in the world via its Maxion Wheels division, said on Friday that it is considering turning to cross-border bond markets for financing.

Spain is often held up as an example of how austerity works, and Markit data published on August 5 provides some support to this view.