Wooden flooring manufacturer Bjelin is to accelerate the construction of a new factory as it predicts Russian’s invasion of Ukraine will hit availability of oak floors.
The Swedish company says a quarter of oak slats produced for the European market come from Ukraine and Russia.
Bjelin sources its oak from Croatian forests and already has a factory in the country at Ogulin. Now it says it will increase production ‘and work proactively with license holders and other flooring manufacturers’ while speeding up work on the second factory, construction of which began in 2021. It says that when completed, the factory will, be world’s largest wooden flooring factory.
‘The production of hardened wooden flooring, manufactured with Woodura patented technology will be prioritised. This production requires ten times less oak compared to traditional manufacturing of parquet flooring, which in turn can result in more wooden flooring out of less raw materials. In the short run, Bjelin will focus on products which can be produced in larger quantities. The aim is to make a considerable contribution in replacing part of the capacity to produce wooden flooring that is now being lost in connection with Russia’s war on Ukraine,’ it says.
Bjelin is part of the £160m turnover family-owned Pervanovo group.
