Hundreds of jobs at a forklift truck manufacturer in Co Armagh appear safe after its US owner announced plans to close a Scottish plant and concentrate operations in Northern Ireland.
NACCO, which manufactures Hyster and Yale forklift trucks in Craigavon, Co Armagh and Irvine in Scotland, has announced a major restructuring of its European division which will see hundreds of jobs go in Irvine by 2009.
The company announced that Craigavon, which employs more than 650 people, had been selected to manufacture the next generation electric range for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
At the same time Craigavon will phase out a number of product lines which it currently manufactures for the US market, with the work switching to a company plant in Kentucky.
The company said that over-capacity in Europe and the current exchange rate between the dollar, the euro and sterling were the two main factors which led to the review of the company's operations.
NACCO has been operating in Craigavon since building a plant on a greenfield site in 1979. Since then it has grown to be one of the largest employers in the area.
