Most, Czech Republic — Belgium’s Recticel has declared force majeure and halted production at its automotive interiors plant following a fire at one of the facility’s production halls on the 22nd of January.
Recticel said in a statement that it is currently “unable to assess the damage of the plant, and production has been stopped completely”.
“As far as can be ascertained at this stage, no one has been hurt,” according to the statement.
The Czech factory supplies a number of automotive industry players. These include Magna, Johnson Controls, Faurecia, IAC, Visteon, Decoma, PVT and Grupo Antolin, according to data from Recticel. The group’s factory in Most specialises in making surfaces of various interior car components, including dashboards, door panels and others.
Recticel says its interiors division is the sole worldwide provider of patented polyurethane sprayed skins for car interiors.
The Czech production facility is operated by the company’s local subsidiary RAI MOST In addition to the plant in Most, Recticel operates a second factory in the Czech Republic, in Mlada Boleslav. Both facilities are located in the country’s north-west, close to the German border.
Most is located about 87 km from the Czech Republic's capital, Prague.