Balta plant in Avelgem to be closed, investment in other sites

At an special works council meeting, Balta Industries NV (Balta Rugs) announced its intention to close its site in Avelgem. Some of the activities are to be transferred to other Belgian sites. At the same time, Balta announced investments for the expansion of the headquarters in Sint-Baafs-Vijve into a central logistics centre.

The other Belgian locations (Sint-Baafs-Vijve and Sint-Eloois-Vijve) and the Balta Rugs plant in Uşak, Turkey, are to accommodate the move. The company points to the difficult economic environment as the reason for the closure, with structurally rising costs affecting the yarn department in particular. About half of the employees at the Avelgem site could continue to work for Balta Rugs at the Sint-Baafs-Vijve and Sint-Eloois-Vijve sites, according to a press release.

Balta Rugs continues to focus on the production of yarns and carpets in Belgium, concentrating on two sites instead of three. With an investment of 14 million euros, Balta Rugs wants to expand and modernise the logistics capacities in Sint-Baafs-Vijve to make the site the central distribution centre for Balta Rugs in Europe. Additional investments would also be made at the existing site in Uşak (Turkey). "With these interventions we can improve the strength of our division and open every opportunity to ensuring the future of our activities in Belgium," says Marc Dessein, CEO of Balta Rugs. And further: "Balta attaches great importance to a constructive dialogue with the trade unions and will therefore conduct the social consultation as smoothly as possible at every step in this process."

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