Sunhu USA LLC
specialty chemicals
West Lafayette, Indiana

Mark D. Cisneros came to the Greater Lafayette Small Business Development Center in October of 2004 to ask about local banks servicing international trade transactions for his company, Sunhu USA LLC.

Sunhu imports specialty chemicals. At Sunhu, they understand relationship building is the basis for foreign trading activities. They have established strong partnerships in China and in the U.S., which enables a strong chemical trade pipeline. Their products serve unique niche markets internationally, mainly focusing on specialty fluorocarbons. They also have the ability to source other specialty chemical intermediates, including pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals.

Susan Davis, Regional SBDC Director, introduced Sunhu to several banks that could write import letters of credit. Susan and Mark had some great discussions with the banks that were interested in import deals with China.

One of Sunhu’s potential Chinese suppliers came to visit in December, and the Greater Lafayette SBDC assisted with the itinerary for the visit. As a result of the visit, Sunhu was able to access an additional 20 chemicals for their product line. Sunhu and their guests were pleased with the assistance and ultimately closed an exclusive agency contract. Sunhu anticipates that the contract has the potential to generate $16 million in revenue over the next two years.

“The SBDC was critical in quickly delivering valuable local resources to aid in our ongoing relationship building process,” Cisneros says.

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Funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration, the State of Indiana, and our many local partners. All opinions, conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA. Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance by calling your local SBDC.