Iran said on Monday it had secured a $100 million syndicated loan with Britain's Standard Chartered Plc to lift aluminium exports. "We got a loan facility of $100 million from Standard Chartered Bank. We have brought in an offtaker committed to buy 2,200 tonnes per month," said Hassan Moussavi, commercial director of state-owned aluminium firm IRALCO.
"We pay nothing in cash, we export 2,200 tonnes each month then a sum raised from this tonnage goes to the collection account of the bank," he told Reuters in an interview.
Moussavi said Swiss-based commodities trader Glencore International AG would be the prime offtaker, buying the Iranian aluminium for its warehouses in the United Arab Emirates.
Iran's industry is growing far faster than rickety domestic banking structures can cope with, so heavy industries such as carmaking and shipping are increasingly looking to syndicated European loans.