Tyre manufacturer Michelin has revealed plans to run down a factory in Northern Ireland, placing 860 jobs at risk, as part of a restructure across its European operations.
Advertisement
Michelin also announced today it was suspending the construction of a new Earthmover tyres facility in India, incurring a loss of €75m, thanks to weak demand.
At the time, manager of the factory, John Reid, “We’re confident jobs will be created if development goes ahead, but that depends on us receiving planning permission and securing funding”.
Michelin said ithe European market had declined by over 5m tyres since the financial crisis and the squeeze on its operations had been compounded by Asian import, which it added have doubled in last few years.
The company also said that it is “prepared to release more than £5 million to help company start-ups, fund expansion at existing businesses and supply investment to attract new businesses to Ballymena”.
Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers’ reaction to the forthcoming end of manufacturing at the plant in Ballymena, Co Antrim echoed that of MP for the area Ian Paisley Jnr, who described the announcement as “apocalyptic”.
“Michelin appreciates the impact these proposals may have on the employees and local community, and commits to support every employee throughout the process”, said the company.
However the news comes as a blow to those at Ballymena.
First Minister Peter Robinson and deputy First Minster Martin McGuinness have said the news means a “bleak day” for Ballymena.
“In addition to the eight hundred and sixty workers who are directly employed by Michelin on the site, there are approximately five hundred contractors and many more in the wider economy who now face the threat of redundancy as a result of this announcement”. We believe that there can still be a future for Michelin in Ballymena and we will put the same effort to save these jobs as we did in the case of JTI-Gallagher a year ago.
Mr Thompson claimed: “Ministerial inaction has resulted in a situation where high energy costs have left the Ballymena plant having the second lowest operating efficiency and now facing closure”.
Advertisement
“This must be a huge call to action for politicians, policymakers and regulators to provide a market that can allow large energy users to compete globally and indeed compete internally for the much needed capital to invest in plant”.
