Last fall, Scott Martin and his family had 50 truckloads of fabricated steel taking up most of their north Des Moines factory, an impending deadline and orders that were backing up.

Martin, vice president of LeMar Industries, took a calculated risk, sending the remainder of the $5.5 million order to Ukraine with part of the payment outstanding. It was a shift from LeMar's usual practice. The company's export clients typically pay for the products before they are shipped - sometimes before they are manufactured.

"It was a big decision for our company, but we knew the owner and trusted him," said Martin, whose family-owned business waited a few weeks before the full payment arrived.

Welcome to the world of exporting, a task that's growing more difficult in the midst of a spreading global financial crisis.

Martin said many of LeMar's clients have placed projects on hold because they are concerned about access to credit, slumping national economies and the rising value of the U.S. dollar.

"It's clammed up. Everyone's waiting," said Martin, who recently learned that one large project will move forward and is optimistic more will follow.

Experts say businesses can protect themselves in times of turmoil and gain foreign sales that are crucial to keeping their businesses growing.

Julie Masimore, an international banking officer at Bankers Trust in Des Moines, said she expects more companies to look to letters of credit to help reduce uncertainty over payment and delivery of products. Now, letters of credit are used in about 37 percent of transactions.

Masimore said the costs likely will increase as more banks become financially unstable worldwide, currency rates remain volatile and country risks become more difficult to assess.

Masimore said she also expects banks to cap how many lines of credit they will back.

"Banks will ask for more documentation," she said. "They'll have to do their due diligence."

John Sabroske, director of global trade finance at John Deere Credit, said the Johnston company requires "one pound of documentation per $1 million" in financing for the farm and construction equipment its sister company Deere & Co. makes.

The documentation is necessary to reduce Deere's financial exposure, Sabroske said.

Deere Credit also uses the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a federal government agency, to reduce its risks as well as other export-import banks in countries where the company has manufacturing facilities. The company also uses private insurance.

"Without successful financing, the sale won't happen," said Sabroske.

Deere, though, is careful to eliminate direct exposure, he said. For example, Deere worked with a Mongolian bank to finance its first sale in that country. The 8430 Deere tractor, built in Waterloo, replaced a 50-year-old Russian tractor that "needed three other 50-year-old Russian tractors to keep it operating."

"There's great potential there," said Sabroske, whose group works in countries like Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, China, India, Ecuador and Bolivia.

Curt Hanson, a principal at Trade Acceptance Corp. in Minneapolis, said businesses should look to the U.S. Export-Import Bank to help provide financing as capital markets dry up.

The Export-Import Bank can provide loans and help extend credit to companies whose strapped customers seek financing.

"Exporters need these tools to offer financing so you can convert a cash sale," said Hanson.

Sabroske said a strengthening U.S. dollar, price increases for the "normal cost of doing business" and a "lack of credit availability to our customers" are some of the biggest challenges Deere Credit faces.

"And falling commodity prices means they'll have less money to buy equipment," said Sabroske.

With $40 million in business annually, LeMar Industries will see about $10 million from exports this year, a portion that has grown, said Martin.

Altogether, Iowa businesses had $9.1 billion in exports from January through September, 30 percent more than the same time last year.

At LeMar, about 100 workers make steel catwalk, towers, conveyors and rail protectors for the grain and mining industries. The 25-year-old company supplies products to larger manufacturers that sell overseas as well as working directly with companies in Russia, Guatemala, South Africa, Mexico and other countries.

Its domestic clients include Cargill Inc., Martin Marietta, Bunge and Archer Daniels Midland.

"In these economic times, the timing couldn't be better," Martin said. "It's helping us keep a lot of people employed."