Suffocated by rising energy prices, the famous Duralex glassworks will put its oven on hold for at least four months from November and put all its employees on partial unemployment to save energy and preserve its finances.
The company said in a statement on Thursday that it was facing “very unfavorable financial production conditions for several months, linked only to the price of energy,” which erupted after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Unsustainable” losses
Production at the historic Duralex factory, located in La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin in the Loiret, should not resume until the second quarter of 2023, with the company having “already contracted tariff coverage in electricity”.
Nothing changes for buyers
The tempered glass specialist claims to have enough stock to continue with its commercial activity “normally” during the shutdown of its furnace, which also responds to calls from the government to limit industrial energy consumption during the winter.
Glasses from school cafeterias, design objects from the MoMA store in New York, whiskey containers for 007 in Skyfall: Duralex’s creations are known around the world and the company is seeing “growth in sales”, according to the statement from press.
The famous glass factory had been acquired in extremis in January 2021, after being declared bankrupt a few months earlier, by International Cookware (Pyrex), which became Maison Française du Verre earlier in the year.
Created in 1945 by Saint-Gobain, the glass factory on the outskirts of Orleans employs 250 people and in 2021 had a turnover of 23.4 million euros.
Source: BFM TV
