Chinese commodities trader COFCO has asked to participate in an auction in Brazil where a sugar mill owned by India's Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd will be sold as part of an in-court debt restructuring, according to court documents seen by Reuters on Tuesday. COFCO already owns four sugar and ethanol plants in Brazil capable of processing a combined 15 million tonnes of cane per year. The company looked at other potential targets last year, but said prices were too high, Reuters reported.

The specter of tighter U.S. sanctions is pushing up the perception that Venezuela is getting closer to defaulting on its bonds, Bloomberg News reported. Venezuela is awaiting possible further restrictions after the U.S., its largest trading partner, sanctioned President Nicolas Maduro after he held elections Sunday for a new assembly that will rewrite the constitution. U.S.

It seems everyone has a set of demands for what should happen to Venezuela. For the most part, from the streets of Caracas to the White House, these are loud but rather vague talking points. People in the bond market, though, have begun to put together a plan for reassembling the country’s economy and finances, the Financial Times reported. Of course it would be better if Venezuelans were able to agree their own coherent plan, but that is not happening right now.

TPI Triunfo Participações & Investimentos SA and a pool of about 20 banks have agreed on terms to restructure 2.113 billion real ($672.6 million) of debt, giving the Brazilian infrastructure firm a lifeline to finalise projects and downsize gradually, the International New York Times reported on a Reuters story.

The board of Oi SA on Wednesday approved a plan to raise 8 billion reais ($2.5 billion) in fresh capital from shareholders and investors as a way to accelerate the Brazilian wireless carrier's emergence from bankruptcy, Reuters reported. In a statement, Oi said the terms of the capital raise will be discussed with creditors and proceeds will be used to raise the carrier's investments in broadband and wireless coverage.

More than 7 million Venezuelans went to the polls to vote against President Nicolas Maduro last weekend. But the more consequential opinion on Maduro's future may belong to China, Venezuela's biggest creditor and one of the few likely sources of funds needed to avert a possible default later this year, a Bloomberg View reported. The unofficial referendum, which was organized by the opposition, showed the depth of popular discontent with Maduro's plans to rewrite the constitution and enshrine himself in office. Turnout, at more than a third of registered voters, far exceeded expectations.

With political and social tension in Venezuela on the rise, investors should prepare for the “end game” by seeking out the country’s lowest-priced debt, according to Deutsche Bank AG. The cheapest bonds -- which generally carry longer maturities -- will provide the best return in a scenario under which Venezuela defaults and is forced to restructure, Hongtao Jiang, a strategist at the bank, wrote in a report. Jiang said while he doesn’t expect Venezuela to stop payments this year, it’s a possibility that bond buyers need to be prepared for, Bloomberg News reported.

Venezuela’s foreign reserves have dropped below $10bn for the first time in 15 years as chronic mismanagement, corruption and subdued oil prices continue to batter what used to be the wealthiest country in South America, the Financial Times reported. The reserves stood at $9.983bn, according to figures published on Friday from the central bank, representing a 77 per cent decrease since January 2009 when they hit a peak of $43bn. The fall comes at a time of heightened political tension.

The world’s riskiest credit got another jolt after S&P Global Ratings lowered Venezuela’s rating deeper into junk as the economy spirals down amid heightened political tension, Bloomberg News reported. S&P reduced the nation’s long-term foreign and local currency ratings to CCC-, or three notches below investment grade, from CCC on Tuesday. The New York-based company kept its negative outlook for Venezuela, signaling room for further downgrades. Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service also rank the country at speculative levels.

For more than a year, Oi SA has struggled to reach a deal with various factions jockeying for a leg up in its $19 billion bankruptcy case, Bloomberg News reported. Almost entirely absent from that process? The company’s single biggest creditor. Brazil’s government claims that Oi owes telecom regulator Anatel as much as 20 billion reais ($6.1 billion), but current law forbids the agency from accepting any sort of haircut or extending the payment schedule.