ExIm Okays Aircraft, Energy Transactions

The US Export-Import Bank’s Board of Directors voted yesterday to approve two transactions totaling nearly $600 million in the transportation and energy sectors, subsidizing supplier finance for The Boeing Company and a controls upgrade at an Indonesian oil refinery.

The first transaction is a 90 percent guarantee of a $500 million facility under ExIm’s Supply Chain Finance Guarantee Program for Boeing. The program helps the aircraft maker provide their numerous suppliers with competitive financing options. The transaction is estimated to directly support over 2,100 jobs at the company and throughout their network in all 50 states, according to the Bank.

ExIm estimates the Supply Chain Facility will support approximately $982 million in export sales of various models of commercial aircraft to airlines around the world.

The second transaction approved was for $99.7 million to support facility expansion and fuel efficiency and safety upgrades at Indonesian national oil company Pertamina’s refinery at Balikpapan. The transaction will support approximately 200 jobs, through more than 30 US suppliers in 13 states and Washington.

The Balikpapan Refinery Expansion Project has been classified by the government of Indonesia as a National Strategic project. Indonesia currently imports 70 percent of its gasoline and has been exposed to dramatic price fluctuations for imported fuels since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

The project underwent a feasibility review and alignment with ExIm’s environmental and social due diligence procedures and guidelines, which must be adhered to throughout the life of the transaction. 

As reported in February, the US share of the Borneo project is dwarfed by other refinery expenditures by Pertamina.  In October 2022 Pertamina announced plans to invest up to $50 billion to build and expand refineries this year, with nearly half ($24 Billion) going to a greenfield project in East Java with Russian state energy company Rosneft.