In Tripoli (Libya) Arrasate was awarded a contract, after an international invitation to tender, for a turnkey installation for a production plant to manufacture welded tubes. The plant, with a surface area of 17,000m2, was worth a total of €4,800,000 (800m pesetas).
The Eroski co-operative, with 32 stores in operation, now had more than 17,00 consumer members, with a significant increase in turnover, the composition of which by sections continued to develop in favour of non-food sectors.
It is interesting to note that in 1972 turnover per head for the co-operatives as a whole was around €6,000 (1m pesetas in the currency of the time); a far from negligible amount if we take into account the fact t that working hours had been reduced to 45 hours a week. A lot of hours if we compare it with today, but in the early seventies a 45-hour working week was a considerable advance in social terms.
