German shipping export specialist KfW IPEX-Bank has logged a big rise in new loan commitments in the first quarter of 2018.
It agreed deals for EUR 3.3bn ($3.91bn) to 31 March, it said, versus EUR 2.1bn a year ago.
The maritime sector accounted for EUR 0.9bn of this, up from EUR 0.3bn in 2017.
In April, KfW was part of a syndicate that came up with $252m to finance Russian owner Sovcomflot's six new LNG-powered aframaxes.
