A large Indonesian textile maker that missed a dollar loan payment last week appears to have become an unlikely victim of the U.S.-China trade war, putting a spotlight on potential stresses from the tussle in global credit markets.
S&P Global Ratings cut its credit evaluation of dollar bonds sold by a subsidiary of Duniatex Group by six notches late yesterday, after another group company missed a payment on a syndicated dollar loan due July 10. The ratings company pointed to ripple effects from the U.S.-China trade war in part for Duniatex’s worsened liquidity.
“The ongoing U.S.-China trade tensions are significantly hurting the Indonesian textile market," S&P wrote in the note. “Following the U.S.-imposed tariffs of 25% on Chinese imports, Chinese producers have started redirecting their products to more hospitable destinations, including Indonesia, from May onwards."
The Duniatex subsidiary should be able to make a bond payment on a $300 million note it priced only this March, but bond investors aren’t betting on it and the note sunk to a low of 34 cents on the dollar Wednesday, after trading above 100 on Friday. Multiple calls to Duniatex seeking comment went unanswered.
--With assistance from Carol Zhong, Annie Lee and Rebecca Choong Wilkins.
To contact the reporters on this story: Mariko Ishikawa in Sydney at mishikawa9@bloomberg.net;Tassia Sipahutar in Jakarta at ssipahutar@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Andrew Monahan at amonahan@bloomberg.net, Finbarr Flynn
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