The Baerlocher Group of Companies celebrated the groundbreaking for their new production site in Akhisar, Turkey. The ceremony was attended by company executives and project team members. The CEO of Baerlocher Group, Arne Schulle, thanked everyone involved in the project and highlighted the objective of the investment - to meet the increasing demand of customers in the region and provide innovative solutions to the Turkish plastics industry. The plant is expected to start production at the end of 2014 with a capacity of 40,000 tons and will include a technical applications laboratory.
With a festive ceremony, the Baerlocher Group of Companies celebrated the groundbreaking for the new production site of Baerlocher in Akhisar, about 100 kilometers northeast of Izmir. At the beginning of the ceremony, Mustafa Ataman, Managing Director of Baerlocher Turkey, and Bekir Ergün, Technical Director of Baerlocher Turkey, welcomed Mr. Arne Schulle, CEO of the Baerlocher Group of Companies, as well as their colleagues of the team responsible for the development of the project – Jürgen Bähr, Plant Manager at the German production site in Lingen and responsible for the European production, Chief Financial Officer Dr. Eric Bingel, Andy Jones, Global Head of SBU PVC Additives, Andrew Tate, Head of PVC Additives EU / MEA, and Berthold Weiss, General Counsel. After a warm welcome, the project manager Ugur Akay from the consultant company Vercon and the civil engineer Volkan Alabas from the construction company KSC, explained the status of the project and guided the participants through the construction site. Then Mr. Schulle made a speech and thanked all people involved for the smooth implementation of the project in accordance with all deadlines up to now. At the end of the ceremony at the construction siteeach member of the project team and of the Baerlocher Turkey team planted a pine tree. Another highlight of the day was a reception in the town hall of Akhisar. The delegation of Baerlocher was welcomed by Kaan Peker, Governor of the District Akhisar, Salih Hizli, Mayor of Akhisar, and Tuncay Haykirer, Manager of the Industrial Area of Akhisar. In his speech, Governor Kaan Peker explicitly acknowledged the extensive investment by the Baerlocher Group of Companies, further strengthening the district. Hereafter Mr. Schulle outlined the objective of the group’s investment in Akhisar – the effective coverage of the further increasing demand of customers in the region and the offer of customized, innovative solutions to the Turkish plastics industry.
Start of production end of 2014
The plant will be on stream at the end of 2014. It is designed for a capacity of 40,000 tons of one-pack systems for conventional and calcium-based stabilizers and will feature a state-of-the-art technical applications laboratory.