French tire producer Michelin announced Wednesday to close all its factories in Colombia claiming they “non-viable” as exports to Brazil dropped.
Michelin daughter Icollantas, which has three factories in Colombia, will offer its workers a voluntary retirement plan, the French said in a press release.
“The decision to close the industrial operations was difficult and painful to take, but also irreversible and urgent because of the financial results,” said Michelin Colombia director Jorge Luis Vega in the statement.
According to Michelin, the Colombian factories near Bogota and Cali have made losses accumulating up to $185 million.
The losses are blamed on the value of the peso, which has increased for years due to an increase in foreign investment and oil exports, and the cheap real from Brazil where the Colombian factories found it increasingly hard to compete.
Michelin, which announced it would maintain its retail activities, has been in Colombia since 1992.
