Trelleborg Wheel Systems America (TWSA) has announced that its Hartville, Ohio manufacturing facility will close in May and production will be relocated to its Sri Lankan plant.

The relocation was first announced in 2006 with the tyre production in Hartville then expected to continue to the first quarter of 2009. The Hartville facility, which manufactures tyres for forklifts and other material handling equipment, has about 200 employees, of which 115 are in production. Production in Hartville was progressively transferred to Sri Lanka in 2008.

Maurizio Vischi, Trelleborg's business area president says the move enables the company to remain competitive and grow. "By doing this, we are creating the conditions for a strong global production structure," he explains

Ydo Doornbos, TWSA's managing director adds: "In the last few years, we have grown in terms of our professional employees, our distribution network and our product offering ... We are excited about the future of this industry and are encouraged by our superior customer base."

The cost of closure, production transfer and other investments totaled about SEK130 million (USD19.5 million). Trelleborg has two plants in Sri Lanka - Kelaniya and Biyagama - which employ about 900 people.

TWSA's corporate headquarters will remain in Hartville.

Meanwhile in the east, growing Chinese forklift manufacturer Hu-Lift has closed its doors, while leading player Toyota Industries Corp (TICO) revises its forecast for the 2009 financial year.

Jiangsu Economic Daily reported that Wuxi Hu-Lift Equipment Co Ltd's shareholders passed a resolution to dissolve the company and set up a liquidation group on 12 March. Creditors were asked to submit applications to the liquidation group by the last week of April.

A Hu-Lift employee whom Forkliftaction.com News contacted confirmed the company had closed, but declined to comment.

TICO, hit by "deteriorating economic conditions", announced a resolution of its May 19 board of directors meeting to book JPY38 billion (USD384.7 million) of impairment loss on surplus fixed assets due to a decrease in unit sales.

Revising its forecast for the financial year 2009 (FY2009) consolidated results, TICO predicts a loss of JPY30 billion (USD303.7 million), instead of a previously forecasted net income of JPY10 billion (USD101.2 million) TICO's net income for financial year 2008 was JPY80.46 billion (USD814.4 million). Net sales for 2008 totaled JPY2,000.5 billion (USD20.25 billion) compared to a forecasted JPY1,580 billion (USD15.99 billion) for 2009.

Annual cash dividends for FY2009 have also been revised and TICO will propose the revision to shareholders after considering the actual financial results and its financing requirements for the year.