LatinFinance - September/October 2016 - 64

CHINA
INTERVIEW

China's vast infrastructure requirements are set to continue stoking
demand from Latin America's miners, says the chief executive of Minas
Buenaventura. By Katie Llanos-Small

Roque Benavides
China's raw appetite

LF: Would you expect more acquisitions by Chinese players in Peru?
RB: I would not be surprised. In Peru,
we have investors from everywhere in the
world. Peru has been blessed with mineral
resources and I do expect more foreign
investment in general into the country, but
also the local companies developing proj-

64 L ATINFINA NCE.COM - September/October 2016

LF: Tell me about what you expect
from the China visit?
RB: China is a very important player in
the global market. President Kuczynski is
looking to increase our exports to China
from the agricultural front and the mining
sector. A good relationship with China is
always good. In a global world, politicians
have to travel and be in contact with their
markets.
LF: It seems we're seeing in the developed world a trend towards protectionism, a bit of an anti-globalization
movement. I'm referring to Brexit and
support for Donald Trump. Is that a
concern for you? Does it make you
consider the export strategies?
RB: It's obvious that Brexit and Mr
Trump are moving in the other direction.
I'm not saying good or bad - but just in the
other direction. It doesn't sound logical in
a globalized world where borders really

Source: Reuters

hinese demand has lifted
many Latin American economies over
the past decades. But it has buoyed Peru's
economy, in particular, so extensively that
President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's first official state visit will be to China.
Roque Benavides, chairman and chief
executive of Compañía de Minas Buenaventura, will accompany him. The publiclytraded Peruvian company owns five mines
on its own, holds majority stakes in three
more, and has minority interests in a number of others.
China's infrastructure build-out will continue that country's strong demand for raw
materials, Benavides says. The trip to China
will be an opportunity to better understand
consumption dynamics in the country and
the investment mood of the biggest strategic players, he says.
"My interest is to have a feel for the
Chinese consumption on the one hand, but
also the Chinese players in the Peruvian
economy," he tells LatinFinance.
The following is an edited transcript of
Benavides' recent conversation with LatinFinance.

ects - as is the case of Buenaventura with
our own projects.

mean less than they used to, that we could go
against that trend.
I think it's something to be observed.
From a small country standpoint, I don't
know if there's much we can do other than
try to integrate with the rest of the world.
Maybe the US can have the luxury of isolating themselves. I wonder whether the UK
can isolate themselves. It's a smaller country
with a limited population.
LF: Regarding financing for new developments. Buenaventura was in the
syndicated loan market recently. Have
you see changes in the financing conditions over the past year?
RB: We tried to issue bonds a couple of
years ago and it came when market conditions were not right for us. Then we started
looking for a bank loan and we reached this
syndicate. It's not been all that easy. But we
reached a good deal and we're very pleased
about that.
The market conditions were not there and
it took us longer than we expected. Probably
because of the Peruvian elections, conditions for the metal industry. I tend to think
there are reasons in the long term - but also
in the very short term - that sometimes make
financing not all that easy.
LF: Do you have other financing or
capital markets plans for the year ahead?
RB: Not that we can mention specifically.
Certainly, we do have projects and we will be
looking for opportunities depending on the
time. Financing without having the project
is not the right thing to do. First we need to
look at the projects and work out whether
we need financing, or a joint venture partner. It depends on the project. LF

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