The U.S. Export-Import Bank is backing a sale of seven locomotives by Electro-Motive Diesel to Iron Ore Company of Canada, with a $10 million loan guarantee for commercial bank financing.

Ex-Im Bank said train engines will go to IOC’s rail subsidiary, Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway. “The sale is keeping American workers on the job in a number of states, including Illinois and Wisconsin” the bank said.

Fred P. Hochberg, the export credit agency’s chairman and president, said this was Ex-Im’s first deal with La Grange, Ill.-based EMD in five years, “and we stand ready to support follow-on business if needed.”

Hochberg also said that “IOC is more likely to continue to buy U.S.-manufactured equipment, even during economic downturns, if it knows that Ex-Im Bank financing is a viable alternative when other sources of long-term financing are limited or unavailable.”

He said the Canadian customer is also buying electric shovels, off-highway trucks, bulldozers and other mining equipment from other U.S.-based manufacturers, including Caterpillar and Komatsu America in Peoria, Ill., and Harnischfeger of Milwaukee. That equipment sale is backed by a $44.4 million Ex-Im Bank loan guarantee.

- John D. Boyd, The Journal of Commerce Online.

Clipper Windpower Inc., a 700+-employee company in Carpinteria, Calif., is exporting 27 2.5-megawatt wind turbines to Mexico, backed by a $80.66 million direct loan from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank). The sale is the first export of the company’s wind technology outside of the United States. It also is the first Ex-Im Bank project financing for a wind power transaction, and the first large U.S. wind technology sale in Latin America.

“Ex-Im Bank’s support is highly significant, particularly to U.S. companies like Clipper looking to grow and compete in international markets,” said Clipper CEO Doug Pertz. “This transaction will provide a catalyst for future international sales which Clipper has been actively working to develop in Mexico and other countries. The ability to export turbines sets the stage for increased future jobs here in the U.S. as we increase orders to our suppliers and ramp up our local operations.”

Electrica del Valle de Mexico (EVM), the project company, is using Clipper’s equipment to build a 67.5-megawatt wind farm at La Ventosa-La Mata in Oaxaca, Mexico. EVM is owned by France’s EDF Energies Nouvelle.

“This transaction furthers two of Ex-Im Bank’s highest priorities — creating and sustaining U.S. jobs and helping American manufacturers produce renewable energy and other green technologies for the world,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg.

Clipper’s wind turbines are assembled in facilities in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The company also has operations throughout the country, from California to Colorado to Massachusetts.

Ex-Im Bank has established a new $250 million facility to finance renewable energy exports, including solar, wind and geothermal energy. The bank’s policy commits it to be a leader in financing climate-friendly technologies made by American workers, including those that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency. The policy includes a maximum repayment period of 18 years.

The Oaxaca project is expected to become operational in December 2009. It will deliver electrical energy under 15-year self-supply agreements to four subsidiaries of Wal-Mart de Mexico, S.A.B. de C.V.

Ex-Im Bank was able to provide project financing for the project because of the flexible terms allowed under the recently agreed-upon OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Renewable Energy and Water Projects Understanding.

In Fiscal Year 2009, which ended September 30, Ex-Im Bank authorized more than $21 billion in support of U.S. exports and associated jobs, the highest financing level since the Bank was established in 1934. The bank also set a record for financing of U.S. small business exports at $4.36 billion.

Febe Durango-Rueda, 52, a Colombian national, pled guilty on Nov. 20, 2009, to participating in a scheme to defraud the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) of more than $1 million, Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer and Acting Inspector General Osvaldo L. Gratacos of the Ex-Im Bank, Office of the Inspector General, have announced.

Durango pled guilty before Judge Richard W. Roberts in U.S. District Court in Washington to a one-count criminal information charging her with conspiracy to defraud the Ex-Im Bank and to commit mail fraud. She had been arrested by special agents of the Ex-Im Bank Office of the Inspector General on May 4, 2009, at Miami International Airport while attempting to enter the United States.

According to plea documents, Durango was the president of Droservicios Ltda., a Colombian medical services company. Durango admitted that she and others falsified financial statements that Droservicios submitted to the Ex-Im Bank in support of a loan guarantee for a deal worth more than $1.3 million.

Specifically, Durango and others applied for an Ex-Im Bank loan guarantee that purported to be for the purpose of increasing Droservicios’s leasing services of specialized medical equipment to public health institutions. According to the application, the specialized medical equipment was to include a CT scanner and mammography unit as well as other medical imaging equipment. Durango admitted that she and others then shipped medical equipment of a much lesser value than the specialized medical equipment that was the basis for the Ex-Im Bank guaranteed loan and fabricated invoices to fraudulently reflect that the specialized medical equipment was purchased and shipped. Durango in addition admitted that she and others shared the difference in the loan amount and the purchase price of the less valuable medical equipment that was actually purchased and shipped. According to court documents, Durango and others then allowed the loan to default, triggering the Ex-Im Bank’s ob ligation to cover the debt. The Ex-Im Bank, without knowing of the fraud committed by Durango and others, paid more than $1.3 million to satisfy the guarantee.

Durango is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 4, 2010, and faces a maximum sentence of 5  years in prison and a $250,000 fine. According to the plea, Durango has agreed to pay $139,064 in forfeiture and make full restitution in the amount of $1,332,081.

The scheme was initially discovered by Ex-Im Bank staff in October 2006 and referred to the Ex-Im Bank Office of Inspector General in 2007 for further investigation.

In a notice (PDF) published in the Federal Register on November 18, the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) announced it has received an application to guarantee approximately $20 million in commercial bank financing for the export of approximately $22 million of U.S. iron ore mining equipment to Ukraine. The U.S. exports will enable the Ukrainian company to produce approximately 10 million metric tons of iron ore pellets per year during the 7-year repayment term of the loan. Available information indicates that this new Ukrainian iron ore production will be consumed in the Ukraine, Europe, China, and India.

Interested parties may submit comments on this transaction to economic.impact@exim.gov or by mail to 811 Vermont Avenue, NW., Room 1238, Washington, DC 20571 by December 2, 2009.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has raised the upper limit of its small business multibuyer export credit insurance policy to allow more small businesses to export their goods and services more easily.

U.S. exporters designated as small businesses under Small Business Administration (SBA) standards, and with annual export credit sales of $7,500,000 or less, now are eligible for enhanced coverage under Ex-Im Bank’s short-term, small-business multibuyer insurance policy. Previously the eligibility ceiling was $5,000,000.

The policy enhancements include no first loss deductibles, discounted insurance premiums, and the receipt of cost-free, exporter performance risk protection for lenders financing receivables for qualified exporters.

“This change is designed to increase U.S. small business exports by expanding the availability of financing to them,” said Ex-Im Bank Chairman and President Fred P. Hochberg. “Exporting is critical to creating and preserving American jobs, especially while the current global financial crisis is being resolved.”

The broadened program eligibility will be effective December 1, 2009, for new small business multibuyer policy applicants. Current Ex-Im Bank multibuyer policy holders who previously were ineligible for coverage enhancements but are eligible under the new ceiling will be offered conversions to the enhanced policy.

Ex-Im Bank’s short-term multibuyer insurance policies protect the exporter’s portfolio of export credit risks. These policies are effective tools in helping U.S. exporters to mitigate foreign credit risk, expand their marketing through extension of liberalized selling terms, and promote access to foreign receivable financing.

California’s Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation (IVEDC) and the Export Import Bank of United States (Ex-Im Bank) have signed a new partnership agreement. IVEDC has joined Ex-Im Bank’s City-State Partners Program, a nationwide marketing initiative that brings state and local government offices and private-sector organizations into partnerships with Ex-Im Bank to expand export opportunities.

“Ex-Im Bank is delighted to widen the reach of its financing for Imperial County exporters,” said David Josephson, Ex-Im Bank Western regional director, who signed the agreement on behalf of Ex-Im Bank at IVEDC headquarters in El Centro, Calif. “The county has a long history of exporting alfalfa hay cubes and baled hay products to Asia, and borders on Mexico to the south. We plan to put Ex-Im Bank loan guarantees and insurance behind these exporters to support U.S. jobs and spur economic growth.”

“Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation’s International Committee is interested in bringing awareness to local businesses of programs that will help make the Imperial Valley more competitive in the global economy. We believe a partnership with Ex-Im Bank will help achieve that goal,” said IVEDC President and CEO Timothy E. Kelley.

As an Ex-Im Bank City/State Partner, IVEDC can help local businesses learn about and apply for a range of Ex-Im Bank financing products, including short-term export-credit insurance to mitigate the risk of foreign buyer nonpayment, loan guarantees to increase export-related working capital and medium-term financing for foreign buyers. IVEDC is the region’s economic development entity.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has become the first export credit agency (ECA) to adopt a comprehensive Carbon Policy to guide its support of United States exports in light of climate change concerns.

As a part of this policy, Ex-Im Bank has established for the first time a $250 million facility to finance renewable energy exports, including solar, wind, and geothermal energy.

Included in the policy is a commitment to explore ways to improve Ex-Im Bank’s transparency in the tracking and reporting of carbon dioxide emissions from projects that it supports.

The policy also commits the bank to be a leader in financing of climate-friendly technologies made by American workers, including those that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase energy efficiency.

Ex-Im Bank also committed to advocate in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the creation of financing incentives for low to zero CO₂-emitting projects, a common methodology for evaluating and taking into account the social cost of carbon, and disincentives for high intensity fossil fuel projects. The bank initiated its efforts involving the OECD within hours of the Carbon Policy’s approval.

W. James McNerney, Jr., chairman, president, and CEO of the Boeing Company, will address Illinois small businesses November 10 in Chicago about expanding their sales in foreign markets and creating U.S. jobs as part of the half-day interactive seminar “Exports Live! Real Deals, Real Profits.” The event is part of an eight-city seminar series organized by six federal agencies. The meetings will share strategies and partnerships used by local small and medium-size businesses that already have discovered how to increase profitability through exporting.

McNerney has served as a member of Boeing’s board since 2001 and oversees the strategic direction of the Chicago-based $60.9 billion aerospace company. Previously he was chairman of the board and CEO of 3M, and before that he held executive positions at General Electric Company, including president and CEO of GE Aircraft Engines. Before joining GE, McNerney worked at Procter & Gamble and McKinsey & Co., Inc.

The seminar will feature presentations and Q & A sessions by successful small-business exporters that have benefited from government export services and solutions. Representatives of the government organizations that provided these services also will be on the program and available later in the day to offer one-on-one sessions to business operators.

The Chicago seminar will be followed by similar sessions in Los Angeles (November 16), Seattle (November 17), and Detroit (December 11). Leading the meetings will be the heads of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank), the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Small Business Administration, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, and the U.S. Trade Representative.

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“Exports Live!” Seminar Series Will Highlight Small Businesses Thriving During Tough Economy

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee will hold an open special meeting on November 4, 2009, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Ex-Im Bank in Room 1143, 811 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20571.

The meeting agenda includes the following:

• A presentation on recent developments in sub-Saharan African markets by Ex-Im Bank staff;
• Discussion of and an update on the 2008 committee recommendations to U.S. Congress followed by an update on a new sub-Saharan Africa special initiative; and
• An update on Ex-Im Bank’s ongoing business development initiatives.

The Sub-Saharan Africa Advisory Committee was established by Public Law 105-121, November 26, 1997, to advise the board of directors on the development and implementation of policies and programs designed to support the expansion of Ex-Im Bank’s financial commitments in sub-Saharan Africa under the loan, guarantee, and insurance programs of the bank. Further, the committee shall make recommendations on how Ex-Im Bank can facilitate greater support by U.S. commercial banks for trade with sub-Saharan Africa.

The meeting will be open to public participation, and the last 10 minutes will be set aside for oral questions or comments. Members of the public may also file written statements before or after the meeting.

For further information, contact: Barbara Ransom, Room 1209, 811 Vermont Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20571; phone: (202) 565-3525.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) has announced that it is open to provide financing for purchases of U.S. exports by private-sector buyers in Cambodia on repayment terms of up to 7 years.

The announcement follows the determination by President Barack Obama in June 2009 that Cambodia and Laos are no longer considered Marxist-Leninist countries as defined under § 2(b)(2B)(i) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, as amended. Ex-Im Bank had been prohibited from providing financing in Cambodia because of this designation.

U.S. government agencies, including Ex-Im Bank, have participated in an interagency process to review the country risks of Cambodia and Laos and have assigned a country-risk rating for the private sector in Cambodia. Laos is still under review, and Ex-Im Bank remains closed in Laos except for certain structured-finance transactions until the process is completed.

Ex-Im Bank is opening in Cambodia in the private sector only for financing of short-term (repayment up to 1 year) and medium-term (repayment from 1 to 7 years) export sales. Ex-Im Bank’s support in this market typically will be limited to transactions with a commercial bank functioning as an obligor or guarantor. However, Ex-Im Bank will consider transactions without a bank undertaking on a case-by-case basis.

Ex-Im Bank also can consider financing arrangements for U.S. exports to Cambodian private-sector buyers on longer repayment terms under certain conditions. Examples of potentially acceptable transactions include structured-finance transactions that earn revenues off-shore and are held in a bank or trust account acceptable to Ex-Im Bank and asset-backed lease and financing structures for equipment exports such as U.S.-manufactured commercial aircraft.