Novelis has declared the closure of its Jonquire, Quebec, Canada-based Saguenay Works facility. Once the transition is completed, production will be stopped in August 2012.
According to the President and CEO at Novelis, Philip Martens, the company still has a significantly strong long-term potential and the company must strive to establish its footprint in order to uphold its overall business goals more effectively to ensure profitable growth.
Novelis conducted a detailed review of its manufacturing operations in the North American region and decided to close the Saguenay plant in order to establish the firm in a stable position for the future. It seemed important to optimize the production capacity in this region as well as deal with the continuously rising structural challenges and logistics costs in this particular location, hence this decision was arrived at.
The Senior Vice President and President of Novelis, North America, Tom Walpole stated that this business decision does not in any way reflect on the committed workforce at the Saguenay plant. He added that they have contributed excellent customer service and product quality over the past 40 years. The company will focus on a smooth transition of its suppliers, customers and workforce at Saguenay as well as on safe operations in the coming months.
Saguenay Works is based in Jonquire, Quebec, Canada and manufactures hot band aluminum coils that are supplied to other Novelis plants. The facility began in the year, 1971 on an area of over 15 ac and spans an area of around 150,000 sq. ft. The number of production employees and staff at Saguenay Works total to 157.
Source; http://www.novelis.com