Haro has stopped producing laminate flooring at its Stephanskirchen plant in Germany and is cutting around 60 jobs, as new owner Mutares concentrates production at the site on parquet.<\/p>\n
The German flooring manufacturer will continue selling laminate under the Haro brand. The products will still be made in Germany, but production will move away from Stephanskirchen.<\/p>\n
The reason is the fall in output at the plant. Haro said the volumes currently produced there were too low for the laminate operation to remain competitive. Employees had also seen production decline considerably from previous levels, according to the works council.<\/p>\n
Parquet will now take a larger role at Stephanskirchen. Tim Kaltwasser, the managing director appointed by Mutares, said parquet is one of Haro's core products and that the company intends to strengthen this part of the business at the German site.<\/p>\n
Haro considers its existing parquet production equipment well suited to this strategy. Management plans to reorganise the operation during the remainder of 2026, with the first results expected next year.<\/p>\n
The 60 positions affected by the laminate closure represent a sizeable reduction at the plant. Haro Flooring employed around 700 people as of June. Management reached an agreement with the works council and trade union covering the employees affected, including the establishment of a transfer company.<\/p>\n
First production changes under Mutares<\/strong><\/p>\n The closure follows Mutares' acquisition of the flooring business of Hamberger Industriewerke earlier this year.<\/p>\n The Munich-based investment company agreed to acquire the division in February, when the business had annual revenues of around \u20ac150 million and more than 700 employees. The transaction included Haro's activities in parquet, laminate, design flooring, sports flooring and acoustic panels.<\/p>\n Haro operates production facilities in Germany and Bulgaria and sells flooring in more than 70 countries.<\/p>\n The Stephanskirchen decision gives the first clear indication of how Mutares intends to reorganise the manufacturing business. Rather than maintain laminate production at reduced volumes, the company is concentrating the German plant on products it believes can be manufactured competitively there.<\/p>\n Laminate remains part of the commercial strategy. Haro is preparing a new waterproof laminate range for launch around the turn of the year, alongside new vinyl products, with both expected to be presented at BAU 2027 in Munich.<\/p>\n The change therefore concerns where Haro manufactures laminate rather than whether it remains in the segment.<\/p>\n Long-running pressure on the flooring business<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest cuts follow several years of adjustments at Hamberger's German operations.<\/p>\n The company had been restructuring since 2023, with more than 200 jobs previously eliminated at Stephanskirchen and nearby Rohrdorf. At the same time, Hamberger invested in automation and modernisation of production.<\/p>\n Weakness in European residential construction and renovation has weighed on flooring demand, leaving producers with lower utilisation at some plants. In Haro's case, the reduction in laminate output eventually made continued production at Stephanskirchen uneconomic.<\/p>\n The site has a long history in the segment. Haro began producing laminate flooring at Stephanskirchen in 1987.<\/p>\n After almost four decades, that production has now ended. Stephanskirchen will remain a manufacturing site for Haro, but with parquet at the centre of its production activities under Mutares.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Haro has stopped producing laminate flooring at its Stephanskirchen plant in Germany and is cutting around 60 jobs, as new owner Mutares concentrates production at the site on parquet. The German flooring manufacturer will continue selling laminate under the Haro … Continue reading