[China Co-Financing Fund] IDB administers 4.2 million USD to Durli Group in Brazil for leather treatment plant (linked to #85134)

On March 6, 2018, IDB Invest (the private sector institution of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, formerly Inter-American Investment Corporation, or IIC), signed a loan package with the Durli Group's (Grupo Durli, or Durlicouros Indústria e Comércio de Couros, Exportação e Importação Ltda.) operation in Brazil. This package was worth a total of 38 million USD. Of that amount, 4.2 million USD was provided by the People's Bank of China through the China Co-Financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean (CHC), 13.8 million USD was from IDB Invest, and 20 million USD from Cordiant Capital, Inc. The IDB also arranged financing to Durli Group's organization in Paraguay, captured in project #85134. The IDB approval date for this loan financing was December 11, 2017, and it refers to this project with code 12100-03 and name "Durli Brazil." Ceiri News reported disbursements were to begin in May 2018. More specifically, the loan was to be used by Durli Group for the construction of a leather treatment plant in Brazil, as well as partially financing working capital needs and refinancing liabilities. It is intended to increase the group's industrial leather production, increase its local sales and exports, initiate international expansion, and reinforce the value chain. The IDB does not specify which plant the funds would be used for. However, the construction of the Santa Terezinha plant, located in the State of Bahia, seems to be the most likely use for some of the funds, because it is specified that "both loans will go toward the construction of plants for the treatment of leather" in addition to other uses, and the construction timeline for this plant appears to align with the approval and commitment of loan funds. A Protocol of Intent for the Santa Terezinha plant was signed by Durli at Brazil's Secretariat of Economic Development (SDE) on August 3, 2017, and was "in the final stages of environmental licensing" around the same time, according to a report from BahiaJa. One contractor, Paraguaçu Engenharia Ltda., worked on the plant over a 12 month period, though over which precise dates is unknown. The plant was completed in July 2021, according to a Facebook post from Durlicouros. The China Co-Financing Fund was established on 14 January 2013 with a contribution of 2 billion USD by the People's Bank of China, and it is administered by the IDB. For more information, see umbrella project ID #86526

Additional details

IDB Invest lists the provider of funds as "Chinese Fund for the Co-financing of the Private Sector of the Americas." It is assumed this is the China Co-Financing fund, since there is no evidence of a fund with this precise title. It may be referring to the private equity fund also under the umbrella of the "China-LAC Cooperation Fund," though this fund is administered by China Ex-Im Bank, not the IDB, and involves investments, not loans (see http://gd.china-embassy.org/eng/zlhz_1/zlhzjj/). Implementation dates have not been added insofar as only circumstantial evidence exists to suggest the Santa Terezinha plant is the one being funded with part of this loan. Further, project status remains Implementation, as listed in the IDB Invest project page, instead of Completion, also due to this uncertainty regarding the plant.

Number of official sources

7

Number of total sources

11