The Export-Import bank of the United States has authorized credit insurance to support the export of Air Tractor Inc. of nearly $900,000 worth of American-made crop-spraying aircraft to a biofuel and soybean grower in Brazil.
The bank-supported export sale is the 20th of about 40 similar deals expected to benefit Air Tractor this year.
Air Tractor has been manufacturing agricultural aircraft from its plant in Olney for 50 years: first the Snow, then the Thrush, and since 1972, the Air Tractor. These airplanes have led the evolution of modern agricultural aviation.
The company employs 270 people. Since 1972, the Air Tractor line has sold about 2,800 aircraft to buyers in six continents.
Over the past 17 years, Air Tractor has utilized Export-Import bank's medium-term insurance to export an estimated $70 million worth of its aircraft primarily to small private sector buyers in Argentina and Brazil.
"We're glad to see Air Tractor, a small business in Texas, winning this sale to Brazil, which is one of our nine key markets," Export-Import Bank President Fred Hochberg said in a statement. "This export transaction continues the long relationship we have had with Air Tractor that helped them dramatically grow their foreign sales while supporting American jobs."
Taua Biodiesel, whose headquarters are in Nova Mutum, Brazil, bought model AT-502B, a single-engine turbo prop aircraft outfitted with a 500-gallon hopper that can be used both to extinguish fires and spray crops. The aircraft is specifically adapted to operational conditions in Brazil's state of Mato Grosso.
The Taua group produces biodiesel fuel, vegetable oil and soybean meal on 40,000 acres, with plans of expansion.
Source: http://www.reporternews.com
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