Fertilizer firm to put 165 mln euros into facility

BALIKESİR - Anatolia News Agency

Bağfaş’s Gençer (L) shakes hands with a German partner in this company photo.

Bağfaş, one of the leading fertilizer makers in Turkey, is prepared to invest an additional 165 million euros in its Bandırma plant.

Bağfaş Chairman Kemal Gençer, spoke over the weekend at the Bağfaş plant and said that in September or October the company would hold a groundbreaking ceremony for Turkey’s first stabilized granule ammonium nitrate and calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) facility. He stressed that the facility would be capable of producing 660,000 tons of granule calcium ammonium nitrate. This new facility will be able to produce 1,200 tons of nitric acid, 1,550 tons of granule ammonium nitrate and 2,000 tons of calcium ammonium nitrate per day. “The total cost of the facility will be financed by roughly 140.7 million euros from foreign investors and 20-25 million euros by Bağfaş, leading to a grand total of 165 million euros. Some 85 percent of the 140.7 million euros will be provided by loans from the German government and will have a repayment window of 13 years,” said Gençer. “The there would be no loan payments in the first three years and the loan will then will be repaid in 10 years with 20 installments.”

Gençer said Bağfaş had been given these loans without even a guarantee letter or mortgage, which demonstrated faith in the Turkish economy, Bağfaş, its employees and engineers.