Latin American corporate bonds attract U.S. buyers

Nov 04, 2012, 6:01 PM EST

The facade of the Petrobras building in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 4, 2011. Petrobras is one of the issuers that has found ready buyers for its paper in the U.S. where yield-hungry investors have pushed purchases of Latin American corporate bonds to a record $68.4bn, according to figures from Dealogic.

AFP/Getty Images/VANDERLEI ALMEIDA

U.S. investors' search for yield has pushed their purchases of bonds issued by Latin American companies to record levels. Issuance by the likes of Brazil's national oil company, Petrobras, which raised $7 billion with the second largest emerging-markets corporate bond, Chilean copper producer Codelco and Mexico's chemical group Mexichem, has pushed total sales to $68.4 billion this year, according to figures from Dealogic. Latin American companies account for eight of the ten largest emerging-market corporate bond issues so far this year.