UK Export Finance (UKEF) is the United Kingdom’s export credit agency and a ministerial department of the Department for Business and Trade. It supports UK exports by providing government-backed guarantees, insurance, and direct lending to overseas buyers, working with commercial banks to finance international trade and capital projects. Its products include buyer and supplier credit facilities, working capital and bond support, and protection against non‑payment and political risk. UKEF operates under international frameworks, including OECD export credit rules, and applies environmental, social, and human rights due diligence to supported transactions.
For the chemical and wider process industries, UKEF supports the export of plant, equipment, engineering, construction, and services from UK suppliers into global projects. Areas commonly covered include petrochemicals, refining, specialty chemicals, fertilizers, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and renewable energy value chains. By mitigating credit and sovereign risk and offering longer repayment tenors, UKEF can make complex projects and supply contracts more financeable, often in coordination with other export credit agencies and multilateral lenders.
