WASHINGTON (Sept. 3, 2008) – Turkish tire maker Petlas Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. has obtained a $30 million loan from the International Finance Corp. to use for expansions.
Petlas has earmarked the financing for expansion projects worth up to $250 million, to build a dedicated truck tire factory and convert much of its 32-year-old plant in Kirsehir to radial car tires.
According to documents available on the IFC Web site, Petlas is budgeting $188 million to build a radial truck and bus tire plant in central Anatolia province, with a capacity of up to 500,000 units a year.
The same documents show Petlas projects spending $32 million to modernize and expand the Kirsehir plant's radial capacity to 1.8 million units annually from 100,000.
Together the projects would create up to 690 new jobs.
The IFC, a unit of the World Bank, said its strategy for Turkey is to provide long-term support to growing and competitive second-tier clients and to export-oriented sectors like automotive, while meeting European Union requirements on environmental and quality standards. Terms of the loan were not disclosed.