Tire firm raises loans

Tire firm raises loans

JAKARTA (JP): PT Elangperdana Tyre Industry, a subsidiary of
Elang Group, has raised a syndicated loan of US$78 million to
support its export-oriented tire production.

Mohammad Yasin, an executive of the Elang Group, said here
Saturday that the loan, the agreement for which was signed in
Singapore on Friday, was larger than the initially proposed $77.5
million.

"We initially proposed a loan of $77.5 million but we had to
raise it to $78 million to meet demand," Yasin said, adding that
the signing of the loan syndication was also witnessed by the
company's suppliers from Japan.

He said that the offshore loan would be used to partly finance
the construction of Elangperdana's tire plant, which is scheduled
for production by the end of this year.

"The tire plant will mainly produce tires for cars and trucks
with an initial production capacity of between 500,000 and
750,000 tires," he said, adding that in the second year, the
production capacity would be doubled to 1.5 million tires.

Yasin said Saturday that Elangperdana's tire production would
be mostly directed at overseas markets, including Japan and
European countries.

He said that the tire plant would use the tire processing
technology of Vredestein Banden, a major tire producer in Europe.
"Vredestein will, therefore, be used as the brand for
Elangperdana's tires," he said. (hen)