 |
 |
||||||
[December 2004]
Wienerberger Invests to Strengthen Market Position in Western Europe
Wienerberger AG (Vienna, Austria) continues to implement its strategy of profitable growth by investing €33.5 million in the expansion of roofing activities on markets in Western Europe. A new production line for flat roof tiles is being installed in Pottelberg, Belgium and planning has started for modernisation of the Seltz clay roof tile plant in France.
"The interest in high quality roof tiles continues to increase throughout France and Belgium, and these investments will place us in an optimal position to meet this rising demand," commented Helmo Scheuch, Member of the Managing Board of Wienerberger AG for North-West Europe. "At the same time we intend to significantly improve value added with optimized and more efficient production processes and thus strengthen our market positions in both countries," he added.
In Belgium the company is concentrating the manufacture of flat roof tiles in Pottelberg. The capacity at Littoral - an old plant only leased by Wienerberger - will be completely transferred to the new Pottelberg production line at the start of 2005 and thereby lead to a reduction in production costs. "In Belgium, France and the Netherlands, flat roof tiles are a highly valued niche product," added Herr Scheuch. "And we have identified a similar trend in Great Britain and Ireland. The investment in Pottelberg will allow us to position Wienerberger as a strong supplier in these regions and further increase our market share."
In France, the company currently operates roof tile plants in Lantenne, Seltz, Bouxwiller and Pontigny. Seltz is the second most important site after Lantenne and has two production lines for roof tiles and one for accessories.
In future, the production of roof tiles in Seltz will be converted to H-cassettes and the accessories line will be completely renovated. "When roof tiles are produced with H-cassettes, each tile is placed in a separate cassette and then fired," explained Herr Scheuch. "This allows us to reach highest product quality - a key factor for the expansion of our competitive position in France."
ENDS