China to Loan Petrobras $10B

[BiscayneSunrise]

Been wondering what the Chinese will be doing with their reserves? Wonder no longer:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...0Po&refer=news

Petrobras Gets $10 Billion China Loan, Sinopec Deal (Update1)
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By Iuri Dantas and Jeb Blount

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, agreed to a $10 billion loan from the China Development Bank and to supply oil to the Asian nation.

“There are two important commercial agreements and a finance accord that demonstrates new possibilities for raising money,” Chief Executive Officer Jose Sergio Gabrielli told reporters after a signing ceremony in Brasilia today.

Petrobras, as the Rio de Janeiro-based firm is known, also agreed to sell as much as 100,000 barrels of oil this year to China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.’s Sinopec unit, Gabrielli said.

The loan will be used for general corporate purposes and to help Petrobras pay for a $174.4 billion, five-year investment plan, Gabrielli said, without giving details of the loan’s cost. The final terms of the loan will be worked out between now and May, when Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva travels to China on a state visit, a spokeswoman for Gabrielli said. The spokeswoman asked not to be named, citing company rules.

Petrobras has been talking with China about the loan since last year. The company has been seeking alternatives to international bank lending and bonds to finance its spending plan in the face of an international credit crunch.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jeb Blount in Rio de Janeiro at jblount@bloomberg.net; Iuri Dantas in Brasilia at idantas@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 19, 2009 13:16 EST

[D-Mack]

Re: China to Loan Petrobras $10B

$25 billions for Russia $10 billions for Brasil, still lots of money left.

[Slimprofits]

Re: China to Loan Petrobras $10B

much smaller amounts but also loans to Jamaica, Angola and Fiji in the last couple of weeks.

*****

China Minmetals confirms $1.7 bln offer to buy OZ Minerals
www.chinaview.cn 2009-02-17 22:25:49

OZ Mineral, Australia's third-largest mining company and the world's second-largest zinc producer, is involved in copper, lead, zinc and nickel operations.

"The acquisition will strengthen both of our market positions and it can provide adequate resources to our business. This is a strategic cooperation," Jiao said.

However, he declined to reveal how the company planned to raise the capital.

"The 1.7 billion U.S. dollars would comprise our own money and loans from banks. But we cannot say what banks will be involved or what portion each of us are going to take," he said.

*****

Saturday February 21, 2009

Asean to seek consensus on RM308b common fund

PHUKET: Malaysia, along with other Asean members, will meet tomorrow to seek consensus on a multi-billion dollar Asean+3 Cooperation Fund for economic stimulus packages.

Under the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation Scheme, Asean members, Japan, China and South Korea have agreed to create a pool of US$84bil (RM308bil). The fund, which was agreed to in May last year, is to help boost forex reserves among member countries.

China, Japan and South Korea will contribute 80% of the fund while the remaining 10 Asean countries will come up with the rest.

[BiscayneSunrise]

Re: China to Loan Petrobras $10B

Plus they just bought an 18% stake in Rio Tinto for $20B

[doom&gloom]

Re: China to Loan Petrobras $10B

Better to spend those dollars on tangible assets and locking up energy
supply than waste them on our mortgages and debt. Paper with dead
presidents on it is not all that useful when the printing presses can always
crank out more...

[mercerbear]

Re: China to Loan Petrobras $10B

Better to spend those dollars on tangible assets and locking up energy
supply than waste them on our mortgages and debt. Paper with dead
presidents on it is not all that useful when the printing presses can always
crank out more...

Not to mention the increased political influence that comes along with loaning money to energy rich nations. This seems like a very smart move by the Chinese.

[BiscayneSunrise]

Re: China to Loan Petrobras $10B

Right. So on one hand we have the Chinese saying "we hate you guys" but we still will buy your paper and on the other, buying heavily discounted hard assets. Hmmmmm.

[The Outback Oracle]

Re: China to Loan Petrobras $10B

There's an opinion around at the moment that the US holds all the Aces in the pack. Certainly the US treats the rest of the world as if it does (Don't get me wrong I like the US. I just wish you hadn't screwed up so badly)
China is being forced into buying up every asset in the world that it can. The US has tried to make its reserves of USD worthless. So what does China care how much they spend on what....just keep spending!

[touchring]

Re: China to Loan Petrobras $10B

There's an opinion around at the moment that the US holds all the Aces in the pack. Certainly the US treats the rest of the world as if it does (Don't get me wrong I like the US. I just wish you hadn't screwed up so badly)
China is being forced into buying up every asset in the world that it can. The US has tried to make its reserves of USD worthless. So what does China care how much they spend on what....just keep spending!

Actually, i see it differently, in the end, although the American oligarch made insane wealth, the US as a whole gains nothing while China had a chance to develop its industries and human resource.

[GRG55]

Re: China to Loan Petrobras $10B

Actually, i see it differently, in the end, although the American oligarch made insane wealth, the US as a whole gains nothing while China had a chance to develop its industries and human resource.

I beg to differ. I am sure that the US has gained the highest number of oversized houses, with the most acreage of granite countertops, of any nation on earth.

Top that, eh...:rolleyes:

[touchring]

Re: China to Loan Petrobras $10B

I beg to differ. I am sure that the US has gained the highest number of oversized houses, with the most acreage of granite countertops, of any nation on earth.

Top that, eh...:rolleyes:

ok, i didn't consider those

but i think the biggest beneficiaries are the likes of Buffet, though you may argue that having $10 billion or having $50 billion doesn't make much of a difference to a person's life.

For China, the gains from industrialization are real.

Merely 20 years ago........

Published: October 28, 1988

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...53C1A96E948260

Millions Across China Said to Face Starvation

SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: October 28, 1988
LEAD: About 20 million people are facing starvation in China because of droughts and floods across the country this year, China Daily reported today.
About 20 million people are facing starvation in China because of droughts and floods across the country this year, China Daily reported today.
Another 80 million people in rural areas of at least 10 provinces are threatened with food shortages this winter because of the impact of the natural disasters on grain crops, according to an official in the Ministry of Civil Affairs quoted by the newspaper.
Over the last nine months, China has been hit with a wave of unusually severe natural disasters, including prolonged freezing temperatures in eastern and central China, extensive drought during the summer in several central provinces and widespread flooding of the Yangtze River.
More than 200 million rural residents were affected by these disasters, the Government said, but half of them are no longer faced with possible food shortages.
Altogether, about 114 million acres of agricultural land were damaged by the disasters; Government officials now say that this year's grain production will be lower than last year's.
The Government has allocated $75.6 million to provide relief to the 20 million people who are facing starvation, the newspaper said. Under the relief plan, each person will be guaranteed one pound of grain, either rice or wheat, daily.
The official interviewed by the China Daily warned against efforts by private grain traders to hoard grain sold at state fixed prices and later resell it at free market prices.

So what's the difference between then and now. I know nothing about farming, but i believe that stuff like tractors, fertilizer, greenhouse technology, and genetic engineering of crops makes some difference.