Announcement of Investment in Almacenes Generales de Deposito Santa Fe, S.A. (ALMAVIVA), Colombia on August 4, 1965

CORPORATION TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IFC Press Release No. 65/8 Subject: Investment in Almacenes For Release Ai.~ Newspapers Generales de Deposito Santa Wednesday, August 4, 1965 Fe, S.A. (ALJ.~VIVA), Colombia The International Finance Corporation (IFC), an affiliate of the World Bank, and the Chase Manh&ttan Bank of New York today announced loans totaling $1,400,000 to Almacenes Generales de Deposito Santa Fe, S.A. (ALMAVIVA), a leading private w~rehousing company in Colombia and a subsidiary of the Banco de Bogota, one of the principal commercial banks in the country. The loan from the Chase l1anhattan Bank is for $400,000 for 3 years, and the loan from IFC for $1,000,000 for 9 years. The loans are guaranteed by the • Banco de Bogota. The two lo...ans, together with funds available from domestic sources, will be used by ALMAVIVA to construct a major grain storage elevator and to complete an expansion of existing WaJC'ehousing facilities. ALHAVIVA's operations cover the deposit, storage, transportation and dis- tribution of agricultural and other products, together with the issuance of warehouse receipts which can be discounted by the commercial banks. The company owns warehousing facilities in twelve of the most important population centers in Colombia, and also operates in rented warehouses in some of the smaller towns. '1:~e construction of additional storage capacity and the installation of modern handling equipment for agricultural products are of particular importance to Colombia, where food production has been lagging behind population growth~ Shortage of storage facilities has in recent years led to substantial losses in • food production due to spoilage; it has also resulted in considerable seasonal fluctuati~ns in prices of agricultural commodities.  • - 2 - The location of the AI1:1AVIVA grain elevator will be Villavicencio, the capital of the Department of Meta and the center of an area of growing importance in rice and corn production as well as livestock activities. Villavicencio is about 80 miles from Bogota and is linY~d with the capital by an all-weather road, scheduled to be improved with the help of existing World Bank ana International Development Association loans to Colombia. ALl·1AVIVA plans to complete construction of the new elevator in time to provide storage for the next crop season and to enr.ourage rice and corn producers to plant increased acreage for the 1966 harvestc Initial capacity of the elevator. will be 20,000 tons, with provision for eventual e1::pansion to 30,000 tons. The remainder of the company's program c:onsists of expanding its flat ware- • housing facilities for storing agricultural and other products in the cities of C~li and Girardot and imported materials and equipment in the Atlantic coast port o.f Barranquilla. •