Agfa-Gevaert is preparing a major transformation of its historic site in Mortsel, Belgium. The group has announced that it is considering reallocating part of its land. The aim is to redeploy areas that have become surplus to requirements as a result of the company's industrial refocusing.
Agfa continues to maintain a high level of activity at this site near Antwerp, with its headquarters, production units and R&D centers, particularly around its new green hydrogen developments. However, the Group's strategic reorientation in recent years has profoundly altered its real estate requirements.
Industrial refocusing already underway
Agfa's gradual withdrawal from the traditional film sector, notably medical X-rays, had a direct impact on volumes processed at Mortsel. At the same time, the sale in 2023 of its Offset Solutions division, which has become Eco this reduced the need to maintain all the buildings on site.
Agfa is now focusing its investments on IT solutions for the healthcare sector, the production of membranes for hydrogen electrolysers and large-format printing systems for industry. This repositioning means that part of the site is under-utilized.
Management therefore wishes to take advantage of this situation by imagining a sustainable reallocation of unused land, while guaranteeing the continuity of its industrial and research functions at Mortsel.
To carry out this operation, Agfa intends to use a "brownfield covenant", a legal mechanism specific to Flanders, which enables public and private players to coordinate industrial site redevelopment projects. This framework facilitates the redevelopment of brownfields or underutilized areas in line with the region's economic, social and environmental challenges.
Maintaining industrial activities on site
The company insists that this operation is not a withdrawal from Mortsel. The site remains at the heart of its industrial base. A new hydrogen membrane plant was recently commissioned. Head office functions, R&D departments and several production lines will continue to operate there unchanged at this stage.
