Railroad Equipment Manufacturer Uses Ex-Im Bank Medium-Term Insurance To Export to Brazil
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Holland L.P., a small-business manufacturer of railroad equipment based in Crete, Ill., is using a medium-term insurance policy from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) to support its export of railroad-track equipment to a private-sector buyer in Brazil.
Ex-Im Bank insured a $1.7 million loan from PNC Bank in Pittsburgh, Pa., to support Holland's sale of two complete in-track welding systems to Concrenor Industria e Comercio Ltda., a subsidiary of SPA Engenharia Industria e Comercio (SPA). SPA is a private-sector firm that provides engineering and construction services to Brazil's rail sector. The insurance broker is Export Insurance Agency Inc. of Walpole, Mass.
Brazil is a powerhouse among emerging markets and offers great opportunities for U.S. companies. This transaction represents one of several types of financing assistance available to help U.S. small businesses realize sales in Brazil, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg.
Without Ex-Im Bank, this transaction would not have come to life. The Bank provided us and our international customer with the opportunity to close a mutually beneficial contract that meets our short- and long-term plans and fits into the strategic and economic goals of both of our countries, said Holland CFO Frank J. Francis.
The exports will be used in a project to refurbish a 177-kilometer stretch track of the Ferrovia Norte-Sul rail line in the state of Tocantins in central Brazil.
Holland L.P., a privately held company that was started in 1935, is a pioneer and leader in the railway-supply industry for electric flash butt welding systems, car components and track testing using efficient road rail vehicles. The company has approximately 250 employees at its facility in Crete, Ill.
Ex-Im Bank, an independent, self-sustaining federal-government agency, exists to fill gaps in export financing, strengthen U.S. export competitiveness, and create and maintain U.S. jobs. The Bank provides a variety of financing mechanisms, including working capital guarantees to help small and medium-sized U.S. businesses, export-credit insurance to protect against nonpayment by foreign buyers, and loan guarantees and direct loans to assist foreign buyers of U.S. goods and services.
In fiscal 2009, overall Ex-Im Bank financing totaled $21 billion, and authorizations supporting small-business exports reached a historic high of $4.4 billion, nearly 21 percent of total authorizations.
Ex-Im Bank authorized $436 million for U.S. exports to Brazil in fiscal 2009. The Bank's exposure (total of outstanding financial commitments) in Brazil as of the first half of fiscal 2010 was $2.8 billion.
In the first half of fiscal 2010, the Bank authorized $13.2 billion in loans, guarantees and insurance more than twice the amount authorized in the same period in fiscal 2009. For more information, see Ex-Im Bank's Web site at www.exim.gov.