Jeff Lorberbaum, chairman and chief executive officer of Calhoun, Ga.-based Mohawk Industries, announces that the company will build an $180 million plant in Dickson County, Tenn., in this file picture.Mohawk Industries has grown to the world’s biggest floorcovering company through 30 acquisitions since 2002, but the Calhoun, Ga.-based company is still planning on record levels of capital spending this year to boost efficiency and output and potentially buy still more companies.
Mohawk CEO Jeff Lorberbaum told industry analysts Friday the company is budgeting record amounts for its capital investments to build new plants in Tennessee and Europe, expand its carpet extrusion capacity in North Georgia and upgrade and expand its other floorcovering operations around the world.
“We are planning to increase capital investments across the enterprise to an all-time high of $500 million to support the introduction of innovative products, to sustain our growth with increased manufacturing capacity and to drive productivity,” Lorberbaum said.
Mohawk announced plans in March to build a $180 million ceramic plant in Dickson County, Tenn.
The company said despite a weather-induced drop in industry sales in the first quarter, floorcovering sales should rise worldwide by 5 percent to 6 percent this year and Mohawk wants to grab a bigger share of the market.