Expansion of production

Barlinek, a Polish company, formulates its claim with a certain degree of self-confidence: it regards itself as Europe’s leading manufacturer of layered wooden floors. The company’s production capacity comes to more than nine mio m², of which it utilized around 7.5 mio m² last year. Now 250 000 m² of solid wood flooring has been added. The company intends to double this volume, aiming to increase annual production to 500 000 m². “When we started production last year we knew that consumer interest in solid wood floors was increasing,” says Marek Janke, a member of the management board. He expects to reach full productivity in the second quarter of 2012. The group also produces in Ukraine, apart from Poland and Romania. The main product is three-layer floorboard, along with flooring for sports facilities and wooden skirting boards. The raw materials from both Europe and overseas are FSC- or PEFC-certified. Within this context the management of Barlinek puts the emphasis on the company’s commitment to the environment. This includes the “One-for-One” reforestation project set up by the group in the year 2000: the sale of each pack of flooring covered by the campaign results in one new tree being planted. The “Customers’ Forest” has now grown to 8.2 mio trees. In Ukraine, too, 280 000 young trees have already been planted in a project that has been running since 2007. The campaign has meanwhile been extended to Russia, where 60 000 saplings are growing so far. Over and above this, the company processes the sawdust and woodchips into pellets and briquettes. It has become one of the major suppliers in this field. Barlinek sells its flooring nowadays in more than 50 countries on four continents. Its continuing growth strategy is directed towards central and eastern Europe, as well as selected markets in western Europe, which include Sweden and Norway, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. Download: