Swiss Krono Group, one of the world’s leading producers of engineered wood products, and its American subsidiary, KronotexUSA Holdings, Inc., recently announced the expansion of its existing operations in Barnwell County. The company is investing $230 million to build a high-density fiberboard (HDF) mill and expand its laminate flooring production, creating 105 new jobs over the next few years.
Headquartered in Switzerland, Swiss Krono Group’s origins can be traced back to 1966. Today, with facilities in France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States, the company employs more than 4,500 workers worldwide. In an effort to meet increased customer demand, Swiss Krono Group is expanding its existing KronotexUSA facility in Barnwell County, which is located at 810 Technology Drive in Barnwell, S.C.
This expansion will allow KronotexUSA to produce 300,000 cubic-meters of HDF per year, which the company will use for laminate flooring manufacturing operations and sell to furniture, cabinet, fixture, door and other wood-based manufacturers. In total, the project will increase the company’s annual laminate flooring capacity by an additional 8 million square-meters.
Preliminary engineering has been completed and construction is expected to start by mid-2016, with HDF operations to begin by the summer of 2018. Once completed, this expansion will increase KronotexUSA’s Barnwell County’s workforce to 275 employees.
The Coordinating Council for Economic Development has approved job development credits, as well as a $1 million Rural Infrastructure Fund grant to Barnwell County to assist with the costs of real property improvements related to the project.
From the S.C. Department Of Commerce: https://sccommerce.com/news/press-releases/swiss-krono-group-announces-230-million-expansion-barnwell-county