Attachments manufacturer Cascade Corp is trimming certain European manufacturing operations in the midst of a decline in global economic conditions and a weak forklift market.

Cascade moved in March to close a fork manufacturing facility in La Machine, France and in May "initiated discussions with the local works council at our facility in Almere, the Netherlands, regarding our intention to cease production operations," says Robert E Warren, Cascade president and chief executive officer. "We estimate the cost for the Almere restructuring to be in the range of USD8 million to USD10 million" over several upcoming fiscal quarters.

"Our current plans are to continue to maintain sales and certain administrative functions and our European parts depot in the Netherlands and shift production capacity to other Cascade facilities," the company says in a filing. "We intend to continue to provide a full-range of products to our European customers."

Warren notes that Cascade intends to use the steps in France and the Netherlands and other changes to make "our European business profitable as we come out of the current downturn".

He predicts that the European market may rebound slower from the recession than the markets in North America and Asia. Cascade aims to move its manufacturing work in France and the Netherlands "to lower cost sources-North America, Asia and Italy" with the expectation "to get some advantage late in the year (2009) and certainly for next year", Warren says.

For the first quarter ended 30 April, Cascade says its consolidated net sales decreased 44% excluding the impact of foreign currency changes of USD7.2 million. Including those changes, the drop was 49% to USD76.3 million from USD149.9 million in the comparable quarter last year.

Cascade recorded USD4.8 million for European restructuring costs, primarily as a result of the France closure, which logged worker severance payments of USD3.8 million. By comparison, Cascade had USD320,000 in restructuring costs for the same quarter last year.

Cascade went from a profit of USD10.9 million in last year's first quarter to a loss of USD12.1 million in the latest quarter.

Cascade employs 1,900 persons who work in 27 facilities in 16 countries and produce devices that allow forklifts to carry, position and deposit loads.

Effective 12 June, Cascade changes its ticker symbol on the New York Stock Exchange to CASC from CAE to more closely relate to the company's name and to "eliminate some confusion we have experienced with a public company in Canada whose name matched our old ticker symbol", Cascade says.