Montreal, Quebes, November 10, 2006--Malette Industries Inc. is temporary shutting down both the Chambly and East-Farnham flooring plants. The plant closures will be effective November 10th for an indefinite period of time.
Current weak market conditions and the resulting high inventory levels as well as the associated cost structure have made this decision unavoidable. The two sites have a combined annual capacity of producing 8 million square feet of hardwood flooring. The total number of affected employees is in excess of 150, with 45 people working at the Chambly plant and 105 at East-Farnham.
"The forest industry is going through very challenging times, the demand for hardwood flooring has slowed in both US and Canadian markets. We regret the impact of this action on our employees and we are working hard to overcome the current conditions in order to be ready for a market turn around," said Gilles Malette, president and CEO.
Malette Industries Inc. is a forest products company principally involved in the manufacturing and distribution of hardwood flooring products. It has operations in East-Farnham and Chambly, Quebec.
