Initially, around 200 jobs were believed to hang in the balance – see Plasteurope.com Web of 17.03.2006 – but following negotiations with employee representatives the talk is now of "up to 90." Nevertheless, even this is a bitter pill for the works council of Ferromatik Milacron (Malterdingen, Germany; www.ferromatik.com) to swallow.

In its Q1 2006 quarterly statement, Milacron Inc (Cincinnati, Ohio / USA; www.milacron.com), parent of the German injection moulding machinery manufacturer, said the lower number of redundancies was the main part of several "concessions" the works council has agreed to as part of a worldwide restructuring plan. A Ferromatik spokeswoman in Malterdingen confirmed this to PIE.

Milacron believes that the cash cost of restructuring under its previously announced plans will amount to USD 13m up to mid-2007 and subsequently generate annual savings of about USD 15m. In 2006, the target is up to USD 4m. Altogether, a "rationalised global product portfolio" is the keyword, the US machinery giant said, without giving details.

In this year´s first quarter, Milacron´s operating business improved. Sales rose 5% against last year´s first quarter to USD 202m. New orders widened to 11% to USD 225m. On a more negative note, the group-wide net loss rose to USD 9.6m from USD 9.1m a year ago, as the higher sales were offset by increased material prices and other costs.

In the European machinery business – along with Ferromatik, this includes the blow moulding technology of Uniloy – sales grew by 6%, despite unfavourable exchange rates, to USD 26m (in local currencies, the rise was 15%). Order intake increased 14% to USD 40m, an improvement of 23% in local currencies.