Defab Weavers Pty Ltd, a family-owned fabric weaving and coating business based in Victoria, is using the additional finance available through EFIC Headway, a new guarantee facility from Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC),  to target niche export markets, with a particular focus on the United States.

Defab Weavers specialises in hard-wearing fabrics that are ideally suited for school uniforms and for clothing in the corporate sector, emergency services and the military, including fire-retardant fibres and kevlar.

The company also produces canvas for purposes as diverse as camper van trailers being manufactured in China, tarpaulins, tents and awnings as well as heavy-duty upholstery and fabric used in a variety of industrial applications such as conveyer linings and tyre linings.

Through EFIC Headway, Westpac is providing additional working capital finance to Defab Weavers to assist with the challenge of producing, shipping and storing sufficient stock to have on hand at export destinations in advance of orders to enable speedy delivery to newly won clients.

““In just one year, between 2004-05 and 2005-06, we doubled our export sales and could have done even better,” said Defab Weavers’ Chief Executive Joe De Petro.  “But in some ways, accessing additional working capital to meet new export contracts is even harder than starting up a new business.” EFIC Headway is a financial guarantee from EFIC to a participating bank, designed especially for small to medium-sized exporters to overcome the common problem of limited access to working capital.

In seeking discrete markets for niche products finely tuned to customer needs, Defab Weavers has withstood strong international competition, evolving from being a supplier to the Australian wholesale textile market to a fully integrated manufacturer, processor, marketer and exporter of its product range.

“Australia is a market of 23 million people but if we can capture just one per cent of the US market, it is the equivalent of what we are here,” said Joe De Petro. “You have to be clever to succeed and be prepared to put in adequate resources from your own company.”

EFIC Headway supports the general funding needs of exporters rather than specific export transactions, and can be accessed through Westpac, HSBC, NAB, ANZ, BankWest, Commonwealth Bank, Bank of Queensland, Bendigo Bank and St.George.