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Founded in Alcanede in 1993, Plamac started its activity three years later, dedicating itself to the production of chipboard panels, MDF profiles and PVC-coated doors, being acquired three years later by Sonae Indústria, which reoriented its production for furniture KIT.
However, in Vilela, Paredes, where Sonae Indústria had created Movelpartes in 1993, the group laid off 42 workers in 2009.
Until, in 2015, Sonae Indústria decided to transfer the production of the Alcanede unit to the Vilela manufacturing complex, located 257 kilometers from the Santarém parish, after having carried out the collective dismissal of the 51 workers of this factory.
The dismissal came by letter, at the end of May 2015, in a letter where the management justifies that the closure was due to “the reduction in sales, the deterioration, of the operating results of Movelpartes in general, but in particular of the unit operating results “. Alcanede, the market situation and the lack of prospects for improvement ”.
Double the production capacity with an investment of three million euros in 2018
Approximately three years later, in March 2018, Sonae Indústria, in a statement sent to Negócios, declared that it had invested around three million euros in Movelpartes, where production capacity had more than doubled, in an area greater than 12 thousand square meters.
Movelpartes now had a new panel edging and drilling line, which “allows the company to produce around 120,000 components per week and reduce waste, as well as energy and maintenance costs,” the company said. .
The objective of the new investment of Movelpartes was “to reinforce its presence in the market of components for the furniture industry, specifically in the markets of Portugal, Spain, France and the United Kingdom”.
The previous year, through a “branding” project, Movelpartes had renewed its visual identity “to reflect the personality of the company: solid, global, multicultural and close to its partners”.
However, the pandemic reached Portugal last March.
On July 24, the furniture components company of Sonae Indústria informed its staff that the factory would close at the end of the year, which implies the collective dismissal of the 43 workers.
In this communication, the company justifies that the closure of the plant is due to “the reduction in sales in recent years, despite the large investment made in 2017”, “the deterioration of operating results”, “cash flows negative cash generated in recent years “and” recorded losses “.
According to the administration, these circumstances were “aggravated by the situation that the covid-19 pandemic is and will continue to cause in the economy and markets”, as the company does not see “the viability of recovering the business and obtaining sustainable profitability , with positive cash flows “. “according to a communication to which Lusa had access.
This Thursday, September 24, contacted by the Lusa agency, Movelpartes official source explained that, “despite the investments made,” the unit “has had a poor performance in recent years, with accumulated negative results,” the reality. which worsened with the pandemic situation. “
“Given these circumstances, the board of directors has decided to completely and definitively close this industrial unit,” he said, adding that “the closure process, announced last July, must be completed before the end of the year.
Following the decision to cease the activity of the subsidiary Movelpartes, Sonae Indústria has already recorded, in the accounts for the first half of this year, a provision of 390 thousand euros related to the closing costs of the unit.
“The company has always kept a lot of Ikea orders and invoices”
This Friday, September 25, the Left Bloc questioned the Government on this matter.
According to the information received by the parliamentary group of the Left Bloc and disseminated in the press, the workers were surprised by the decision to close the plant because they did not find any objective basis for it to occur. Workers claim, on the contrary. , that ‘the company has always maintained sufficient orders and invoicing for its main client, Ikea Industry Portugal’ ”, reports the party led by Catarina Martins.
Considering “essential to stop the announced collective dismissal and to know the conditions in which this group closes a manufacturing unit with a very positive net result”, Bloco de Esquerda directed a series of questions about Movelpartes to the Ministry of Labor, Solidarity and Social Security.
“Is the ministry aware of this situation?” and “Is the guardianship available to discuss with the company, within the framework of the extraordinary support to companies granted in the context of the pandemic, a solution that allows the company to become viable and keep jobs?”, he begins by asking.
And “were the inspection actions carried out by ACT? What were the results of the inspection actions?” with the situation described “, and if the ministry” is aware of the transfer of public support to this company. ”
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