SKF Closing Etzenhofen/Puettlingen Plain Bearing Plant

SKF AB (Sweden) announced it is closing the SKF Plain Bearings manufacturing plant in Etzenhofen/Puettlingen, Germany. Approximately 300 people will lose their jobs in the move, part of SKF's efforts to shore up both German and plain bearing operations. SKF Gleitlager GmbH, Puettlingen, is one of the Saarland region's largest employers, and the largest in Puettlingen. The region includes INA's Hamborg plant, with 2,400 employees. Scheduled to close by the end of 2004, SKF said Puettlingen's plain bearing product line is facing increasingly fierce competition in its markets worldwide, holding down prices and volume. High production costs also hurt Puettlingen, compounded by currency valuation issues. Commoditization has long been a problem in the plain bearing sector, but has been accelerating due to increased low-price import competition and unfavorable exchange rate fluctuations. SKF said some plain bearing production will be shifted to its larger Schweinfurt plant, but that the remainder will now be purchased from outside vendors.