Swedish rolled aluminium firm Gränges AB said on Wednesday that it is negotiating with the labor union at its facilities over a corporate reorganization that will see the culling of 75 positions in Finspång.
Per the firm, the move is being done in an effort at strengthening Gränges Europe’s offerings and to shore up its competitiveness over the long term. Gränges notes that the reorganization is in response to prevailing market conditions, which is certainly an allusion to the struggles the world economy continues to face due to the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic.
Gränges Europe president Jörgen Abrahamsson elaborated upon the rationale for the move in a related press release.
“We are constantly working to improve efficiency and develop Gränges Europe’s operations. We are now implementing an organizational change to further adapt the operations to current market conditions, broaden our sustainable product offer, improve efficiency and implement competence shift. The organizational change aims to strengthen Gränges Europe’s long-term competitiveness and contribute to continued growth.”
Of the 75 positions on the chopping block, 50 are for blue-collar positions. Gränges expects the move to cost the firm SEK25 million, which will be reflected in its results for this year’s third quarter. All those facing a job loss have been informed, and Gränges projects the negotiations with the relevant union to wrap up by the end of this year.
Begun in 1873 in Stockholm, Sweden as Trafik AB Grängesberg-Oxelösund, Gränges AB was resurrected in 2013 as a private company specializing in rolled aluminium heat exchangers. It employs almost 1,800 employees at the present time at two plants – one in Finspång, Sweden, that opened in its present configuration in 1972, and a second in Shanghai, China, opened in 1996. The firm boasts a total nameplate capacity of 420 thousand metric tons per annum and an annual sales total of SEK13 billion (US$1.35 billion).