EX-IM BANK SUPPORTS MANUFACTURING FURNACE SALES TO MEXICO
Pillar Industries, Milwaukee, WI, is able to export induction furnaces to Mexico with the assistance of an Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) medium-term insurance policy.
Pillar, a 170-employee manufacturer of induction heating and melting systems for the plastics, packaging, foundry, and forging industries, is selling furnace equipment worth $256,000 to Fundicion FDC, S.A., of Chihuahua. Under another medium-term policy issued last fall, Pillar was able to sell $160,000 in equipment to a company in San Sebastian, a town near Guadalajara. In March, Ex-Im Bank also approved a small-business multi-buyer policy for the company that will allow it to sell an estimated $2.5 million in spare parts and smaller equipment to Mexico, as well as other countries in Latin America, Asia, and Western Europe.
This was tremendously helpful in allowing us to get into a market that we were previously excluded from, said Patrick Brown, vice president of international sales for Pillar. We have been trying for a long time to do business in Mexico, but it always fizzled when it came to payment terms. This gives us the opportunity to go to potential Mexican customers and say, 'You can pay us in installments and after the equipment is making money for you.'
Brown said that the two insurance policies, for approximately $199,000 and $123,000, are helping Pillar to increase sales and expand its workforce. The broker for these transactions was the Trade Acceptance Group, Inc., of Edina, MN.
Ex-Im Bank is always pleased when we can help US firms export to Mexico, our largest customer, said Ex-Im Bank Chairman James A Harmon. Sales like this benefit people and businesses in both the United States and abroad.
Ex-Im Bank has authorized more than $2.6 billion in financing for US exports to Mexico during the last two fiscal years.
Ex-Im Bank is an independent US government agency that helps finance the sale of US exports primarily to emerging markets throughout the world, by providing loans, guarantees, and insurance. During fiscal year 1999, Ex-Im Bank supported nearly $17 billion in US exports.