Snelling, SC, June 10--Five years after announcing plans to build a plant in Barnwell County, Kronotex has begun production of laminate flooring with about 80 employees, according to State.com.
Kronotex, a subsidiary of the Kronos Group of Lucern, Switzerland, announced plans in 2000 to build a $110 million plant near Snelling to employ 125 people making particle board for furniture makers.
"The furniture industry fell on hard times so we had to delay that," said Norm Voss, president of the U.S. subsidiary.
Instead, the company has spent about $40 million to build the plant and install machinery to make ¼-inch tongue-and-groove laminate flooring. The plant buys fiberboard planks and laminates them with backings and sheets with patterns resembling wood grains or tile. Over the colored paper is a clear overlay that provides resilience to scuffing.
The company expects to decide within three months whether to go ahead with an expansion to install machinery to make medium- and high-density fiberboard at the Snelling plant. That would involve an investment of at least $100 million and create about 60 jobs.
"The laminate flooring market is growing rapidly in North America," Voss said. "We need to get production going here to service the customers we already have."
