‘We expect to be able to get in and start cleaning and recovering by mid to end of November. Recovery will take 2 months’, Panos Mytaros, President, Ecco Leather, told Leather International.
Intense rains in Thailand flooded the tannery and shoe factory of the Danish shoe brand Ecco in Ayutthaya north of Bangkok. The water was up to two metres deep on October 5 broke through dikes that protected the factory from ‘normal’ seasonal flooding.
In the meantime Ecco Leather has taken the following steps. The production for Ecco shoes is now carried out in two tanneries in Thailand and Ecco’s own tannery in China. Production for other customers remains at Ecco’s tanneries in China, Indonesia and Holland.
‘That shows the commitment towards our customers and the long discussed reliability of the Ecco Leather Brand’, says Mytaros. ‘We ordered many new machines which will replace the old ones which are under water.’
Additionally the company is currently carrying out a total renovation of the tannery in Indonesia and Ecco Leather will have two brand new renovated tanneries by mid 2012 in Thailand and Indonesia. ‘A strong commitment to the future’, added Mytaros.
By November 6 500 people in Thailand have died as a result of the recent floods although it is understood not to be any Ecco employees.
