Chile’s Codelco, the world’s top copper producer, has issued bonds in New York to finance four mining structural projects, refinance its debt and maintain a strong cash position.
The company Tuesday issued 10-year bonds of $1bn and reopened $1bn, 30-year bonds first issued in 2019.
Codelco’s move came after Chile’s finance minister, Ignacio Briones, said that the government will not provide funds to finance Codelco, due to the country’s $3bn spend on containing nationwide protests.
The mining structural projects that will be financed by Codelco’s bonds are Chuquicamata Subterránea, Nuevo Nivel Mina, Rajo Inca, and Traspaso Andina.
The bonds sale will be handled by HSBC Securities, JP Morgan Securities, BofA Securities, and Scotia Capital.
Codelco produced 1.2mn tonnes of copper in the first nine months of 2019, down by 6.7pc from the prior year period.