Kosice/Presov, East Slovakia, March 10, 2006--Sales of the only Slovak producer of laminated floorboards, Kronospan SK, rose by nearly one-third on the year to Sk 4.35bn (US $137.9 million) last year, according to the Czech News Agency.
A year earlier, Kronospan's sales amounted to Sk3.38bn (US $107.2 million). The company has decided to invest Sk70m (US $2.2 million) in a new production line because it is seeing a growth in demand and its plant reached full production capacity in summer.
Kronospan sold around 7.8 million square metres of boards last year, up 3.4 million year-on-year, and exported more than 55 percent of the output.
Kronospan expects an annual growth in output of 3.5 million square metres of boards after the launch of the new line. Up to 90 percent of the line's output should be exported, Sneider said. He added that the company wants to invest Sk20m (US$634,000) this year to improve quality of thin chipboard production. Kronospan managers have also been considering a construction of a new plant worth nearly Sk3.9bn (US$125.6 million) in Presov for some time which will produce MDF boards. They will make a final decision on the investment after the government gives its stance on the company's request for incentives. Kronospan SK, a successor to Kronospan Slovakia as of early 2005, is a unit of multinational company Krono Group. Kronospan employed 424 staff at end-2005, a growth of 21 year-on-year.
