At the end of February, the Italian wood-based panels manufacturer Fantoni discontinued MDF production at its Avellino site, which operates under the name Novolegno.
The industrial initiative of Novolegno Spa (owned by Fantoni Group), which arose 39 years ago and currently employs 117 people, specializes in the production of MDF panels for fruit and vegetable packaging but currently no longer has the economic and market conditions to continue the business.
After a gradual but inexorable change in distribution methods, in particular by the large-scale retail trade, the economic conditions that had led to the decision to settle in Irpinia have been missing for years, in a phase in which the availability of local raw materials constituted the fundamental prerequisite for the production of MDF panels, a condition that had already disappeared in the mid-1990s, Fantoni Group said in a press release. The local timber was in fact diverted to biomass energy plants.
According to Fantoni, the important investments made to differentiate production and to use more competitive raw materials such as recycled wood have not given the desired results due to the progressive deterioration of the packaging market, where other materials, such as cardboard and plastic, have been privileged. While understanding the gravity of the impact that this decision determines for its employees, their families and the many external collaborators, during the meeting it was expressed the impossibility of further delaying this decision in the light of the irreversibility of the situation of market.
About Fantoni Group
The Fantoni Group (a company founded by Achille Fantoni in 1882) is a leader in the production of office furniture, partition walls and equipped, MDF and chipboard panels, laminate floors and sound-absorbing panels. All phases of the production process are carried out by the network of companies that make up the Group and work synergistically for product development: from the production of materials and semi-finished products, to the design of innovative office furniture systems inspired by the most current principles of wellness and design. The Fantoni Group independently produces resins, impregnates paper for its panels Melamine Faced Chipboard and, thanks to hydroelectric power plants and cogeneration plants, contributes significantly to its energy needs.
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