PRESS RELEASE
25/08/2022
During the Special Works Council held on Thursday, August 25, Beaulieu International Group announced its intention to regroup the Heatset activities of its yarn division from the Belgian Berry Yarns Komen site to the French Ideal Fibres & Fabrics Comines site, 4 km away.
Activity levels at both production sites dropped significantly in 2022. On top of this, the residential segment within the Yarns Division is being severely affected by cheap and intensified imports from Asian players. The high cost of raw materials and the sharp rise in energy prices in Belgium are forcing B.I.G. Yarns to regroup the Heatset activities (residential market) in order to defend its global position on the market.
B.I.G. realizes that this intention to close the Heatset department hits the employees and their families hard. “We are committed to entering into a constructive dialogue with the social partners throughout the process and, if the intention were to be confirmed, we would expect to work with them to find appropriate solutions in the interests of all the employees concerned.” B.I.G. hopes to find solutions for the 37 potentially affected employees within the Group itself.
B.I.G. has 3 production sites of B.I.G. Yarns. These are located in Belgium, France and China. B.I.G. Yarns specializes in high quality polyamide and polypropylene yarns for the contract, automotive and residential flooring markets. The contract and automotive market will not be affected by this intention and remain B.I.G. Yarns' top priority.
Yarns can be made from PA (Polyamide) or PP (Polypropylene), through 2 main manufacturing processes, on the one hand extrusion where PA or PP granulates are converted into synthetic yarns. On the other hand, yarns can be made in an ennobling process. This requires an operation in which the yarn is twisted (twist) and then fixed with heat (heatset).