Case 586G forklift

A Burlington factory making Case Construction-brand rough terrain forklifts and backhoe loaders plans to lay off about 150 of its 446 workers from July.

The manufacturer, CNH Global NV, says slower volumes of equipment sales and a reduction in customer orders have prompted the action.

Lee Schwartz, a CNH human resource director, informed Burlington Mayor Bill Ell about the plan in an early May letter. CNH owns the 984,000sqft (88,560sqm) Burlington plant.

Publicly traded CNH reported a USD126 million loss in the first quarter ended 31 March versus a USD112 million profit in the comparable 2008 period. Sales during the quarter declined 25.5% to USD3.05 billion.

CNH, a major global player in the agricultural and construction equipment markets, expects that full-year 2009 sales may be down 15% to 25% from 2008.

CNH Global is incorporated in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and has administrative offices in Burr Ridge, Illinois. A 1999 merger combined operations of New Holland NV and Case Corp.

Fiat SpA of Turin, Italy and its subsidiaries owned 89% of CNH Global as of 31 December.