Sonae closes waste wood chipboard factory

Sonae has thanked its suppliers for their support after permanently closing its Knowsley chipboard factory on Friday (September 14th).

The company explained that it had taken the decision to shut the plant, which produced chipboard from recycled chipboard, extremely reluctantly.

The move will have a big impact on wood recyclers, as the plant used to provide a market for 400,000 tonnes of waste wood a year before a fire in June 2011, and earlier this year had begun to ramp up production again.

Delays in gaining planning permission to re-build the damaged plant and local opposition to the facility following a number of incidents on site were blamed for making the facility no longer commercially viable.

Consultation

Commenting on the decision on Friday, Nigel Graham, managing director, Sonae Industria (UK) Ltd said: It is with great sadness and regret that a final decision has been taken to close our Knowsley manufacturing plant, following in-depth consultation with employees and trade union representatives.

The decision is the result of long delays to the reconstruction of the factory due to the political and planning difficulties and the reduced and unsustainable capacity levels that have ensued.

No further manufacturing will therefore take place at the plant after the 14th September and all but a small element of the workforce will leave the company from today.

This decision to close has been taken extremely reluctantly and only after exhaustive efforts to resolve the political and planning impasse. We have a loyal and committed workforce and our employees have been doing everything in their power to maintain operations. Unfortunately however, our trading position is no longer commercially viable. Wed like to thank our staff, supply chain and customers for their continued support during this difficult time.

Jobs

A 90-day consultation process began on 6 August with the hope of saving the site and 220 jobs. However, Fridays announcement confirmed workers worst fears.

Graham Cain, regional officer for the Unite union, which represents workers, said: This news is a devastating blow for the workforce who were hopeful that the site may be saved.

Unite has done everything possible for its members to ensure they receive the best redundancy package. We will be doing all we can to assist the workers finding alternative employment.

This is a very sad day for the workers and a further blow to manufacturing in the North West.