About Us                                      

Agencia Antillana
H. Barkhausen & Co., S.A.

Agencia Antillana was founded by Mr. Hermann H.W. Barkhausen in 1927 in Santo Domingo, Capital City of the Dominican Republic. Mr. Barkhausen or Consul Barkhausen as he was well known in this country, was of German nationality, and as a very young man had lived and traveled extensively in Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Venezuela, working for a well-known German export company and bartering mainly caoutchouc (raw rubber) and other native commodities for German goods. After marriage he decided to live in the Dominican Rep. and was named German consul and delegate, appointed by the Weimar Repub.

Some years later he founded the Agencia Antillana, who until 1941 represented companies like the Horne Line, Bayer, Merck and others. After the war Agencia Antillana initially represented Volkswagen and Porsche, which was no success because the people did not appreciate these small cars and later Ag. Antillana fully committed to the sale of Iron and Steel products, construction material and related machinery (as well as the export of iron minerals from the Dom. Rep. to Germany). 

For many years, prior to the Cuban revolution (1959) , large quantities of steel, mainly debars, were sold by Ag. Antillana to Cuba, Puerto Rico and Dom. Rep. As a matter of fact a ship was loaded every six weeks for these three destinations, but the larger quantities were of course destined for Cuba. Later Ag. Antillana opened an office in Puerto Rico (Antillana Agency, Inc.) and considerable quantities of different steel products were sold in this neighboring island. Today Ag. Antillana continues to act as a representative office to some manufacturers and traders, and wherever not competing, as a free agent and independent trader, concentrating mainly in the sale of Iron and Steel products, construction materials such as lumber and plywood, building materials and also related machinery. So for instance several wire drawing lines, several galvanizing lines, most of the wire products machinery, bridge cranes, etc. have been sold by Ag. Antillana during the last years in these markets. Our gross annual sales average 25,000,000 USD per annum. Most of our operations are done through first class world banks and operate on mostly L/C basis and CAD terms secured with legal & transferable documentations.

Our office in Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep. is modern and well equipped. Our own power plants guaranty around the clock electricity. With a T1  telephone lines PBX and three Fax lines, as well as Internet / Intranet communication and a very up to date Windows NT network. At present we have nine salesmen attending constructions material and general items being inquired by customers in the Dom. Rep. and the Central American countries.

Our Administrative staff consists of Mr. Joachim (Joe) Barkhausen, president  (second generation) and Mr. Joachim Barkhausen II (third generation). The first has worked as a Jung man with several well-known traders such as Thyssen, Coutinho CCC, Ferromar and Kurt Orban and has been managing Ag. Antillana since 1961. The second is 36 years old, of US nationality, studied at FIU and U.M. in Florida, and has joined Ag. Antillana since 1999 with remarkable success, after selling his own business in the Telecommunications sector of the Dominican Republic. The remaining staff consists of Bookkeeper, Secretaries and Messengers.

During the last few decades we have been very successful in selling steel products in Central America and other Caribbean destinations, probably after discovering that the prices needed for the Dominican Rep. are competitive anywhere. Consequently a large part of our efforts are concentrated mainly in Dominican Rep. and Central America (Guatemala, San Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras, Belize, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Suriname, Guyana etc.) but for certain products also in and other  smaller islands of the Caribbean. It is for this reason that we have been traveling regularly to these markets.

We invite you to contact us at any time, as we would be more than pleased to attend to your price inquiries and material or commodity items to offer in these markets potential clients.

Joachim Barkhausen
President

®

_____________________________________________________________________________

Deformed Re-enforcing bars, Steel Billets, Wire Rod, Merchant Bars, Steel Tubing black and Galvanized, Steel Sheets and Plates, Corrugated Galvanized Roofing Sheets, CRC, HRC, HDGC, Stainless Steel Sheets and Coils, Zinc Ingots, Aluminum Billets, Aluzinc & Prepainted sheets and coils, ZED Purling, Common Wire Nails, Roofing Nails, Staples and Masonry Nails, Flux and Silicate Sodium and Welding Electrodes,  Wire Welded Mesh, Barb Wire,  Aluminum Strips and Sheets and Coils, Copper Wire Rod , Lumber , Plywood , Chemicals, Hardware store supplier, Machinery , Cranes, parts, Cement White & Gray.