Välinge increases production of hardened wood floors in Croatia

The mega factory in Ogulin, Croatia, under construction in April 2022 (Image: Välinge)

To increase production of its Woodura and 5G Dry products to meet increasing demand, Välinge has recently acquired a mega factory currently under construction in Ogulin, Croatia.

Construction of the factory was initiated in 2020 by Välinge Innovation’s parent company, Pervanovo Invest AB. The first phase is scheduled to be operational by 2023 and all phases finalised and up and running in 2027. The Ogulin factory site will include a warehouse, press hall, process hall, powder production, energy station and offices.

According to Välinge, it has already increased its capacity at full pace in the factory in Viken, Sweden. Together with the Ogulin site, the production capacity will exceed 20 million m2 in annual capacity upon completion.

“The demand for our hardened wood flooring with Woodura surface is increasing rapidly in all markets where we are active. The products are very well received as the Woodura technology enables to produce more out of less and make flooring products last longer,” said Niclas Håkansson, CEO, Välinge Innovation.

The Woodura surface technology maximises the amount of square metres than can be produced from every log. Välinge claimed that by using sliced wood instead of solid wood, 10 times more flooring can be produced from the same amount of lumber compared to traditional engineered wood flooring and 30 times more flooring compared to solid wood flooring.

Håkansson continued: “We can manufacture more square metres of flooring with a better performance than traditional build-ups. With the current situation, the flooring industry must change or raw material will just not be enough for the demand. With this in mind, in combination with the possibility to source the oak top layer from our sister company Bjelin in Croatia, we think the timing is right to increase capacity to meet the market demand.”