Ex-Im Bank Assists U.S. Railway Equipment Makers

From Official Export Guide

The Export-Import Bank of the United States extended loans, loan guarantees, and insurance to several U.S. makers of locomotives, railway equipment, and services, allowing them to enter foreign markets.

L.B. Foster Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., is exporting railroad track equipment to Peru with the help of a $12 million Ex-Im Bank guarantee of a loan by PNC Bank National Association, also headquartered in Pittsburgh.

Ferrocarril Transandino, S.A., Peru (Ferrocarril), a private rail concession operator, is using the financing to buy rail tracks, joint bars, track bolts, and rail anchors from L.B. Foster to renovate its track network. The transaction is part of a $25 million project to upgrade Ferrocarril’s rail system.

Ex-Im Bank also approved an $86.5 million long-term loan to support the sale of 38 AC44i diesel-electric locomotives by Erie, Pennsylvania-based GE Transportation to MRS Logistica in Brazil. The privately owned railway company, one of Brazil’s largest, is using the exports to expand and modernize its locomotive fleet, buying the first alternating-current locomotives in Brazil. It is the largest financing done by Ex-Im Bank for a Brazilian railroad. GE Capital Markets Services Inc. is acting as financial advisor on the transaction.

Additionally, North Carolina-based Nucor Corporation is selling steel plate manufactured in its Tuscaloosa, Ala., facility to a Mexican railcar manufacturer with the help of an Ex-Im Bank Financial Institutional Buyer Credit policy. The policy insures a $20 million revolving line of credit from Hencorp Becstone Capital LLC, Miami, Fla., to Mexican buyer Gunderson-Gimsa. Other U.S. suppliers across the country will participate in the transaction by providing steel wheels, coupling, braking systems, and related materials and parts to Gunderson-Gimsa.