Nordex SE has announced that the company will cease nacelle production at its Jonesboro, Arkansas, facility after it completes the orders in its current pipeline. The decision was driven by the wind industry’s global overcapacity and the continued uncertainty and instability of the U.S. market. The decision will not impact the current year’s business performance, as exceptional expenses were already accounted for in 2012 as previously reported.
“This was an extremely difficult decision for Nordex. We are reacting to the weakened demand from the U.S. market, brought on by the unpredictable extensions of the Production Tax Credit (PTC), and the resulting low utilization rate of our U.S. assembly plant,” Nordex SE CEO Dr. Jürgen Zeschky said. “We see great potential in the U.S. and Latin American markets and are committed to serving those markets and increasing our installed base. With this decision we also increase our flexibility to react to US demand for our turbines out of one single plant in Rostock, Germany. We will be maintaining the extensive expertise in sales, engineering, service, project management, training and support which we have built at our Chicago and Jonesboro locations to continue the growth we have achieved through these challenging times.”
“This is a sad day for all of us at Nordex USA,” Ralf Sigrist, president & CEO of Nordex USA, Inc. said. “We will lose valued colleagues, who have done their very best for us, but the decision was inevitable considering the underutilization of our plant.”
In the future, nacelles for the North and Latin American markets will be supplied from Nordex’ factory in Rostock, Germany, using the global supply chain and logistics support based there. Service activities for all existing U.S. wind farms are not affected by the closure of the U.S. production. The training academy, the central parts storage and the repair facility in Jonesboro will remain in operation to support service and operations in the Americas. Around 40 employees will be affected with layoffs beginning in October.
The restructuring of the company in the United States is in line with Nordex’ strategy to position its operations to maximize capacity utilization.
For more information, visit www.nordex-online.com.
