First sod turned on imposing cardboard factory in Lanklaar

On Saturday, construction started on the brand-new Soenen Golfkarton factory on the former Bekaert site in Lanklaar. “We are building an ultra-modern factory that will create 200 jobs”, says director Louis-Philippe Soenen.

Soenen Golfkarton is building an impressive new factory of 132,500 square meters in Lanklaar. The company invested more than 120 million euros in this project. “In Hooglede we have been producing cardboard boxes since 1964”, says Louis-Philippe Soenen. “Here in Lanklaar, we are now building one of the most modern factories of its kind in Europe. Once production is up and running, this sustainable business will create at least 200 new jobs.”

HR Manager Nathalie Soenen adds, “Our second site in Limburg is all about geographical expansion. A cardboard box, no matter how well made, is not really expensive and therefore does not allow for high transport costs. A second site will offer our customers a more secure supply in case of a disaster scenario. We want to get started here in 2023.”

“My father was once the director of Bekaert-Lanklaar”, says Mia Soenen-De Bie. “Perhaps that family connection is the reason why we bought Bekaert. There are already several workshops on this site, where, from 2023 onwards, sixteen trucks will supply us with cardboard every day. But that is not even half of what we intend to set up. There will also be several offices and a central residential building with a caretaker’s house. Along the cable-stayed bridge, there will be another 40-metre-high tower. And along Zuid-Willemsvaart, the entire length of our plot will have an architectural façade that looks good from the centre of Lanklaar and the water sports centre across the canal.”

Source: hbvl.be