Glass maker Ardagh yesterday decided to close its Irish Glass plant at Ringsend in Dublin, after it failed to get commitments from major customers on volume and prices.
Ardagh had announced the closure of the plant in February, but then reversed the decision after reaching agreement on restructuring with the plant's workforce. This led to 50 voluntary redundancies, but it was hoped that the remaining 325 jobs were safe.
'Without sufficient committed volume at economic prices it would have been impossible to finance the capital investment required to ensure the plant's future profitability,' the company said in a statement, adding that the closure decision was 'unavoidable'.
News of the closure came in Ardagh's results statement, which saw pre-tax profits plummet to €2.4m last year, compared with €8.9m in 2000. Trading profits fell from €37.5m to €26.2m. Turnover was €304.3m, against €319.8m the previous year.
Ardagh said unfavourable currency movements and reduced Irish turnover accounted for €10m of the reduction in turnover.
The company has declared a reduced final dividend of two cent, saying it needs to keep cash aside to meet the closure costs at Ringsend.
It is believed Ardagh has been losing customers to Sean Quinn's glass plant in Fermanagh, and other operations in the UK. Rehab Recycling says the plant's closure puts the Government's €127m recycling initiative in jeopardy.
