Albany International Announces Proposed Actions to Restructure Machine Clothing Operations in Europe
October 05 2017 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Albany International Corp. (NYSE:AIN) announced today that its
subsidiary, Albany International France S.A.S. (“Albany France”),
has initiated discussions with the employee Works Council regarding
a proposal to restructure operations at the Company’s Machine
Clothing production facilities in Sélestat, France. The proposed
restructuring would reduce employment by approximately 54
positions.
Machine Clothing market conditions in Europe have continued to
decline since an earlier restructuring in 2013. That restructuring,
which resulted in reduced employment in the Sélestat location, was
intended to improve the viability of both the Sélestat and St.
Junien operations. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts and good
faith of all parties, conditions globally, and especially in the
European market supported by these locations, have continued to
decline even further since 2012, leading to the current proposal.
Global Machine Clothing sales were $582 million in 2016, compared
to $693 million in 2012, a decline of 16%.
President and CEO Joseph Morone said, “As we have long reported,
the market for Machine Clothing in the publication grades,
particularly in Europe, has been deteriorating for over a decade,
and continues to do so. As we described at the time, the 2013
restructuring was part of a deliberate but painful process of
aligning our global capacity to the long-term structure of the
machine clothing industry. This restructuring process has to date
resulted in the closing of 13 plants across the globe, including
eight in North America and four in Europe, and significant
downsizing at other European plants, along with investment in new
capacity in Asia and South America. While we had hoped that the
2013 actions would represent the last step in this global
restructuring process, continued deterioration in the market for
publication paper grades has driven the need for further
restructuring in order to maintain Albany’s ability to compete in
the markets we continue to serve.”
Consultations with the Works Council will be completed in
accordance with applicable French legislation.
About Albany International Corp.
Albany International is a global advanced textiles and materials
processing company, with two core businesses. Machine Clothing is
the world’s leading producer of custom-designed fabrics and belts
essential to production in the paper, nonwovens, and other process
industries. Albany Engineered Composites is a rapidly growing
supplier of highly engineered composite parts for the aerospace
industry. Albany International is headquartered in Rochester, New
Hampshire, operates 22 plants in 10 countries, employs 4,400 people
worldwide, and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Symbol
AIN). Additional information about the Company and its products and
services can be found at www.albint.com.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171005005615/en/
Albany International Corp.InvestorsJohn Cozzolino,
518-445-2281john.cozzolino@albint.comorMediaHeather Kralik,
801-505-7001heather.kralik@albint.com
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