Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
By the end of January, Zalakerámia, a subsidiary of Austrian building materials manufacturer Lasselsberger, completed the disassembling of the production lines at its Romhány tile plant and transfered them to another Lasselsberger location in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. From now on, the Romhány site will serve only a logistical function. Due to the downsizing, more than 200 employees were laid off.
Zalakerámia will now only produce tiles at its Tófej unit, which itself underwent drastic downsizing in 2023 and represents a lower technological quality than the Romhány plant.
The shutting down of production was primarily a result of the protracted recession and high costs in the construction sector. These factors were compounded by the government’s imposition of a mining tax on domestic construction material producers, which was extended to tile producers in 2023. According to analysts, this policy was aimed at prompting the Austrian owner to sell the firm to Hungarian investors. Instead, as in 2023 in Tófej, the owners responded with a near-total closure of operations in Romhány.
Eurofound (2024), Zalakerámia, Offshoring/Delocalisation in Hungary, factsheet number 202379, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/202379.