International trade continues to grow every year as nations expand their global sales andrnnew nations join in. Today, over 225 nations are active in trade resulting in over $9rnTrillion dollars in global business every year.rnEthiopia, though existing part is small in amount, is one of those nations that incessantlyrnincrease their contribution in this global business. However, in Ethiopia, as in some otherrnAfrican countries, the export business is dominated by agricultural products accountingrnroughly for 70-80 per cent of export earnings.rnOne of the common complaints, from Ethiopian agricultural product Exporters, is thatrnthey receive minimal support from their banks for export trade transactions. Afterrnspending significant time and resources to develop export sales, they often can not securernthe funds they need to complete the orders. Thus a key finance service specificallyrnrequired by these exporters is a short term working capital loan that is used to fulfillrninternational sales orders.rnConsequently, the main purpose of this study was assessing the utilization of pre-rnshipment loan by agricultural product exporters in Ethiopia; focusing on those productsrnwhich hold the highest fraction in the export business.rnThe result of the study in general suggests that the provision of pre shipment workingrncapital credit is characterized by a continuous increasing trend with annual averagerngrowth rate of 147% for three consecutive years from 2004- 2006.Although the provision of pre shipment working capital loan increases more than 100% annually, it stillrnconstitute small percentage of the total loan provided by the banks. And also the amountrnof pre shipment export credit in the study period is found to be very low relative to therntotal export value in the same period.rnFor this reason the researcher suggests that, in order to satisfy needs of exporters in therncountry and benefit from the opportunities in the international market by expanding thernexport business, the disbursement of pre shipment credit should be increased more thanrnwhat actually exists. This can be achieved through encouraging and supportingrncommercial banks to provide the loan to small and medium emerging exporters who havernlittle experience and knowledge about the foreign trade; easing the requirements of bothrnthe commercial banks and government guarantee schemes; facilitating other exportrnfinancing mechanisms; enhancing the capacity and experience of emerging agriculturalrnproduct exporters about the international business; and strengthening and increasing therncapability of those sectors which are organized with the aim of expanding the exportrnsector in Ethiopia like Ethiopian export promotion agency