Ex-Im Bank Insurance Gives Indiana Small Business International Edge Supports $96,000 Sale of Candle Manufacturing Equipment to El Salvador
ELF Machinery, L.L.C., a La Porte, IN, manufacturer of packaging machinery, is expanding into the Central American market with a $96,000 sale of candle-making equipment to Compania de Aceites y Parafinas Industrial, S.A. (COMAPI), Ilopango, El Salvador backed by Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) $103,000 medium-term credit insurance.
With exports accounting for a third of our sales, it is more and more important to offer customers a better edge in the international market, says ELF International Sales Manager Eric Thorgren. The domestic market can only absorb so much of our equipment and therefore we rely on exports to continue growing.
The Ex-Im Bank insurance enabled Intercontinental National Bank (Intercon Bank) of San Antonio, TX, to provide COMAPI with the credit it needed to buy a molten filler with two conveyors and spare parts from ELF. Securing loans to buy American goods and services can be difficult for businesses in emerging markets such as El Salvador. As Diane Reed, Assistant Vice President of Intercon Bank Loan Administration commented, this transaction would not have been possible without the support of Ex-Im Bank
ELF is one of the largest single employers in La Porte, Indiana, with 150 workers. ELF hopes to expand its customer base in the Latin American market , especially in the molten products area. For La Porte, Indiana, this will mean more business and more employment opportunities.
In Indiana, Ex-Im Bank has supported, 75 companies in 37 communities and financed a total of $192.6 million in exports during the last five years. The Ex-Im Bank financing has sustained an estimated 2,793 jobs and has contributed to the success of many local companies.
COMAPI, a family-owned small business, will use the equipment to produce scented and colored candles in glass jars or other containers. In addition to candle manufacturing equipment, ELF also makes and exports a range of liquid packaging machinery that creates containers for everything from bottled water to shampoo.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent U.S. Government agency that assists in financing the export of U.S. goods and services to industrializing and developing markets all over the world by providing loans, loan guarantees, and export credit insurance. In fiscal year 1999, Ex-Im Bank expects to support $15 billion of U.S. exports worldwide.