CSI Sud-Ouest reopens Toulouse PCB plant two years after arson attack
An arson attack in the summer of 2024 destroyed much of CSI Sud-Ouest’s PCB factory in Toulouse. Two years on, the Cimulec subsidiary has rebuilt and inaugurated the plant, and none of its 57 employees has been made redundant.
The new factory was inaugurated on 29 September, according to a LinkedIn post from Cimulec. The reconstruction cost EUR 25 million and took 18 months, according to La Dépêche. The newspaper also reports that CSI Sud-Ouest has got back both its 57 employees and its 300 customers.
The fire broke out on the night of 26–27 July 2024 and destroyed 2,000 square metres of the site. In a video about the fire and reconstruction, CSI – which describes itself as one of the last French manufacturers of advanced PCBs – says its production equipment was destroyed within a few hours.
According to the video, management decided to rebuild within 24 hours of the fire, with the target of having the factory running again within 18 months. While the site was demolished, partners lent premises and temporarily took over ongoing orders. Employees were kept on through short-time work, remote work and temporary agency assignments, with the stated goal that everyone would be back when the factory reopened.
Getting the money together was difficult. In the video, a company representative explains that the gap between the insurance payout and the cost of reconstruction was around EUR 5 million, which CSI could not cover on its own. In the end, the state and the Occitanie region stepped in through the France 2030 investment programme, according to La Dépêche. Approvals for plans, machinery, budget and permits came through in March 2025, but construction did not start until May, ten months after the fire.
“We should all be very proud of the work accomplished and of our values,” Eric de Ponthaud, managing director of CSI Sud-Ouest, said in Cimulec’s LinkedIn post.
The restart has not been without problems. In the video, staff describe network connection delays, a boiler that could not reach the right temperature, and the challenge of bringing 13 processes back up at the same time. The plant has, however, had its EN 9100 certification for the aerospace industry renewed.
Toulouse Mayor Jean-Luc Moudenc visited the site a few days after the fire and attended the inauguration. On LinkedIn, he described the plant as an example of Toulouse’s advanced industry serving aerospace, space and defence.
“The criminals wanted to destroy a company. They did not have the last word,” Moudenc wrote.
