Household appliance manufacturer Electrolux yesterday confirmed its Christchurch plant would gradually close over the next 14 months, making 150 workers redundant.
Manufacturing director Leon Andrewartha said wall oven production would stop in September, cooktop production in December and electric stove production by October 2005.
Those products would manufactured at the firm’s cooking products plant in Adelaide, where it planned to invest a further $20 million in new plant and product development.
In a statement, Mr Andrewartha described the decision as regrettable but logical.
“Unfortunately for Christchurch, the Electrolux cooking products plant in Adelaide, South Australia has a broader product range and significantly larger production capacity,” he said.
“This makes it the logical location for consolidating our ongoing investment in cooking manufacturing in this part of the world.”
Each day, the Christchurch plant produced about 300 electric stoves, wall ovens and ceramic cooktops for transtasman markets, compared with the Adelaide plant’s more than 2000.