Attachments maker Cascade Corp is projecting slow industry growth for 2010 in North America and Asia Pacific, a relatively flat European market and improvement in China at a rate comparable to that country's gross domestic product growth.

"It should be noted that lift truck shipments and order rates in China have already recovered to their historic highs experienced" in early 2008, says Robert C Warren Jr, chief executive officer and president of Fairview-based Cascade.

"We believe the markets in North America and (the) Asia Pacific will experience growth at a slow, gradual pace during the upcoming year," Warren noted during a 31 March conference call. "The European market seems to have bottomed out and will remain relatively flat through (2010), but we expect to see some (industry) recovery in (2011)."

For the fiscal year ended 31 January in 2010, Cascade sales fell 41% to USD314.4 million from USD534.2 million, and the business recorded a bottom-line loss of $38.6 million versus a profit of USD1.3 million the previous year.

"During fiscal 2010, we incurred USD30 million in restructuring costs as a result of the termination of manufacturing operations in Germany, France and the Netherlands," Warren says. "Approximately 70% of the total restructuring costs were cash-related, and 30% were non-cash costs, such as write-downs."

A security filing says Cascade seeks to sell properties occupying 162,000 square feet (14,580 sqm) in Almere, the Netherlands, at one time Cascade's European headquarters; 81,000 square feet (7,290 sqm) in Schalksmühle, Germany, near Hagen; 37,000 square feet (3,330 sqm) in La Machine, France; and 12,000 square feet (1,080 sqm) in Ancenis, France.

Warren adds: "Our restructuring activities have put us in a position to achieve improved financial results. . . . At this time, we do not anticipate incurring any significant restructuring costs during fiscal 2011, although we will continue to review our existing production capacity and look for further opportunities to improve our global operations."

Cascade is restructuring its marketing organisation "to make sure we are covering the market for our new supply chain adequately and be more efficient at how we're spending our (selling, general and administrative) marketing dollars there," Warren says. "I would say that you're going to see an improvement in what we're able to do more on the material handling product coming out of Verona (Italy). As we get lower costs, source components in labor and efficiency out of that facility, we're going to be seeing margins we didn't get to see up in Holland."

Warren expresses confidence "as we're looking at what some of the replacement costs locally have been over what we had in northern Europe."

In March, Cascade signed a corrective-action agreement with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency outlining a comprehensive remediation plan at the firm's Springfield, Ohio facility. A consent order that was signed in 1994 required installation of remediation systems for the clean-up of groundwater contamination. The new agreement allows Cascade "to proceed in our future cleanup" at the facility, probably through 2019, Warren says. Cascade incurred a USD1.3 million environmental charge to cover the planned activities.

Cascade reports 1,700 fulltime employees as of 31 January, down from 2,000 as of 31 March 2009. Warren reports the total headcount reduction was "about 475 to 500", with some individuals still in the process of leaving the company.

Cascade has employees working in 26 locations in 17 countries and manufactures products "used in nearly every industry worldwide that uses lift trucks" and allows the forklifts "to carry, position and deposit various types of loads", Warren says. "A smaller portion of our products are for construction vehicles, such as tool carriers and skid steer loaders. Approximately 60% of our products are sold through retail dealers. The remaining products are sold directly to global manufacturers, names such as Hyster, Toyota, Kion, Mitsubishi, Yale, Komatsu, Hefei, Ingersoll Rand, Caterpillar and Nissan."

Cascade's largest competitor is Bolzoni SpA of Casoni di Podenzano, Italy. Warren says Bolzoni has about 15% of the North American market where it has operated for about 20 years, 50% of the European market and 30% of the total world market.