Announcement of IFC Assists Argentine Textile Industry Seven Million US Dollars Loan for Alpargatas Expansion on May 9, 1977

Intematiorzal Finance Corporation • 1818 H Street. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. 202-393-6360 IFC Press Release No. 77/15 Monday, May 9, 1977 IFC Assists Argentine Textile Industry $7 Million Loan for Alpargatas Expansion The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an affiliate of the World Bank, is lending $7 million to help finance a $55 million expansion of Alpargatas S.A.I.C., a leading Argent~ne manufacturer of cotton and cotton- blend fabrics and of non-formal footwear. Bank of America, N.T. & S.A., and Daiwa Bank Trust Company are participating in IFC's loan in the amount of $3.5 million. The financing is for a new textile mill to be built in Catamarca, a northwest province of Argentina. The mill will have 15,960 spindles and 132 ~ shuttleless looms, with a capacity of about 10 million linear meters of fabric per year. The planned production of gray cotton and cotton-blend fabrics will be finished in existing facil_ities and is intended mainly for the local market. The project is located in one of the poorer regions of Argentina and supports the Government's industrial decentralization efforts. The new mill will create about 500 permanent jobs and indirectly provide additional employ- ment for several thousand workers engaged in garment making. It will also benefit the region's economy by encouraging ·the development of new lands for cotton production and generating additional jobs in cotton cultivation. Banco Nacional de Desarrollo is lending $10 million for the project. Suppliers' credits of $14.2 million and internal cash generation of $23.8 million complete the financing. Alpargatas is widely held by some 60,000 Argentinean stockholders and its stock is traded on the Buenos Aires stock exchange • • (Any inquiries strictly relating to IFC's participation in this project should be directed to the IFC Information Office, 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, Telephone (202) 477-6247.)