Finnforest is building its new £3m I-beam factory in King’s Lynn and not in Bremen, Germany as originally planned.
A slowdown in the German construction market has prompted a last-minute change of location for the new facility set to spearhead Finnforest’s I-beam sales drive in Europe.
Kim Poulsen, director of Building Systems at Finnforest UK, said: ‘There has been a contraction in the German market and, following a detailed market study, Finnforest have made the decision to move the factory to the UK rather than build it in Bremen.’
The decision will see 12 extra workers taken on at the Finnforest site in King’s Lynn, which was formerly owned by Stantons. I-beam machinery is being installed, with test runs planned for November and first commercial production by December.
The factory will be capable of producing 25 million linear metres per year on a seven-day-per-week, three-shift basis, but first year production is expected to be around the five million linear metres mark.
Mr Poulsen believes output from the factory will find a ready market given that it will be produced to European specifications.
‘The North American importers’ products are in inches rather than to European measurements. We will be offering European sizes because the market wants to buy in European sizes,’ he said.
The opening of the site will complete Finnforest’s timber construction offering. And I-beams will complement the company’s structural panels, structural timbers and engineered products such as LVL and glulam.
The King’s Lynn announcement follows Finnforest’s purchase of glulam producer Kuningaspalkki Oy in February. That deal brought in the Hartola glulam site in Finland, its 52 workers and a current 20,000m³ capacity, planned to rise to 80,000m³.
