The Meinerzhagen plant of German machinery manufacturer Battenfeld Injection Moulding (Meinerzhagen; www.sms-k.com) will be closed – on 30 June 2006, according to local press reports – and production of injection moulding machinery transferred to Kottingbrunn / Austria. Some 470 jobs are on the line. The German site has been making losses for “many years in a row,” and “all our attempts to make Meinerzhagen competitive have proved to be unsuccessful,” Heinrich Weiss, chairman of parent company SMS Group (Düsseldorf / Germany; www.sms-group.com), told Battenfeld employees on 14 November.

Weiss said the group is no longer prepared to subsidise Meinerzhagen, adding that “we must consider the future of the group as a whole.” Battenfeld Injection Moulding is the smallest company in the SMS group, with sales of EUR 170m in 2004. Concentrating production of injection moulding machinery at the Austrian site should improve Battenfeld´s market position and make this brand once more a synonym for “innovative technology,” Weiss said.