Established only in 2001, the Baltic Furniture group, BBG, headquartered in Lithuania, claims to be “one of the most booming furniture companies in Lithuania” with ambitions to become a leader in the European arena.
Until recently, the group comprised four manufacturing companies, which exported around 98% of their production. The fourth and most recent member of the group was Latvian particleboard maker Bolderaja, though as we shall see, that company was sold in July this year.
AB Freda, one of the founding companies of the BBG group and located in the town of Kaunas, makes furniture from particleboard coated with various surface films, as well as with painted finishes, and specialises in living room furniture such as cupboards, chests of drawers, beds and shelves. The factory was extended and new machinery purchased last year, with further expansion planned for this year.
AB Dilikas is located in Klaipéda on the west coast of Lithuania and makes furniture from wood-veneered particleboard and solid pine with UV finishes; it aims to make 52% of its products from solid wood this year.
JSC Wood Team Production has its factory in Vievis, between Kaunas and Vilnius,and specialises in solid wood furniture manufactured from pine and birch and hasa new birch sawmill together with drying and processing, to guarantee its supply ofsuitable raw material.
In mid-2004, BBG crossed the border and acquired Latvian particleboard manufacturer
Bolderaja, one of the largest wood processing enterprises in Latvia.
A series of investments throughout the BBG group in 2003 in new technology, factory premises, staff and quality improvements boosted sales volume from LTL100m (US$176m) to LTL193m and in 2004, sales growth almost doubled.
That acquisition of Bolderaja, whose factory is located close to the Latvian capital Riga, gave the group an assured supply of particleboard and at the same time offered it a buffer against price fluctuations in the market.
Bolderaja makes particleboard in various thicknesses and to E1 grade. It also applies melamine facing to the raw board and manufactures the melamine edgebanding.
Flooring grade is also a speciality.
The newest venture for Bolderaja under BBG ownership was a move into furniture manufacture at the end of 2004, producing simple melamine-faced particleboard cabinets. The plan of BBG was that furniture would represent 30% of the company’s total sales volume this year, in line with the ambitions of BBG group in furniture production at all its factories.
However, on July 25 this year, BBG sold Bolderaja to Kronospan Holdings Ltd of Nikosia, Cyprus.