Credit managers of companies exporting to Latin America have accused credit insurers of failing to back them up and being overly cautious about trade with companies based in the region.
They claim to have noticed a distinct improvement in payments from countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.
Arnold Geelhoed, manager of credit control Europe at chemical giant Akzo Nobel, which produces pharmaceuticals, said “Some of our good customers are paying us on time in US dollars so we don’t have a problem. Compared with the situation from one year ago all my bad debts have been paid. I am surprised to find the credit insurers so negative.” He says that the number of days to payment has been reduced substantially due to the effect of local inflation. “If you pay in US dollars but take 120 days to pay, the actual amount it costs your customer in their local currency has risen by more than half”
