Saint Gobain in Bari, new production line starts

A new production line for the Saint Gobain site in Bari, the result of a five million euro investment intended to strengthen the French giant's presence in southern Italia. The new line of technical pre-mixes, adhesives, screeds and skim coatings further increases the weight of this integrated logistics hub, with 7,000 square metres, in the production and distribution of construction products throughout Southern Italy, particularly in Puglia, Molise and Basilicata, areas in which the group now employs 115 people, and a network of over 60 business partners spread across the territory.

The production choice of technical premixes further specialises the Bari site, which continues to be a reference point for the distribution of all the other products arriving from the other 41 sites in Italia, such as glass from Pisa, sheathing from Chieti and plasterboard from Termoli. This capillary presence of production sites - where 90% of the materials marketed are obtained - allows a strong proximity of the group to customers and translates into a 'competitive advantage, but also,' explains Gaetano Terrasini, CEO of Saint Gobain Italia Spa, 'in a responsibility that we assume towards professionals and local communities, consistent with our raison d'être as producers of the entire product portfolio needed for modern sustainable building, and in this we want to be leaders.

The site - which was already operating as a storage and cutting facility for glass sheets in the 1970s - was then reconverted when it was taken over by Saint-Gobain in 2010 and now, with this new phase of development, it assumes an integrated role in Saint-Gobain's national production and distribution network. The site is now part of Saint-Gobain's national production and distribution network

It is also the site, from March 2024, of an academy and laying school for the application of adhesives, skim coatings, with monthly courses involving up to 70 applicators, and provides training activities for designers and companies with the aim of transferring technical skills and fostering the exchange of experience between professionals in the sector.

Terrasini concluded during the inauguration of the new production line that 'the solid industrial tradition of the city and its fast-growing industrial area, which is attracting investments from leading companies in various sectors, also played a role in the decision to strengthen the site with a further investment. Together with those from Bari the group in Italia employs 2,100 people and has reached a turnover of EUR 1 billion by 2025.