Homanit continues expansion in Eastern Europe with new fibreboard project

The German company has announced that it has signed a contract for the acquisition of an industrial area of ??77 hectares near the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

A further thin board plant is to be built on the site in order to meet the needs of the customers represented there and to satisfy customer demands for even faster and more effective delivery of Homanit products.

The new plant, like the previous plants of the group, will cover the HDF product range as well as MDF up to 22mm thick. In addition to the raw panel system, extensive refinement systems are to be built.

In addition to the raw board plant, extensive finishing facilities will also be built to guarantee the market the usual extensive Homanit product range. According to the current schedule, the plant is expected to go into operation in 2022.

In recent years, Lithuania has developed into one of the most important locations for the furniture industry in Eastern Europe.

"Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we had temporarily postponed our investment plans,” said Fritz Homann, managing director of Homann Holzwerkstoffe.

“We are all the more pleased that we were able to get through the difficult months after the outbreak of the crisis in spring with less short-time work than expected and without job cuts, and that we can now continue our expansion plans with the establishment of our fourth location in Europe".

The company already operates a mill in Germany and two plants in Poland.

Homann Holzwerkstoffe GmbH closed 2019 with a significant increase in earnings - sales increased by 3.8% to €273.8m, while operating EBITDA improved by 19.5% to €47.1m.