The Japanese-owned electronic components firm AVX has confirmed that it is to cut another 70 jobs at its plants in Coleraine and Larne. Earlier this year, the company - a former IDB Exporter of the Year - was forced to lay off nearly 100 people at its plant in Coleraine because of the economic slump in its Asian markets and the strength of sterling.
AVX makes multi-layer ceramic capacitors, used for storing energy in a wide range of electrical appliances from the mobile phone to the microwave. It is currently completing a £45.7 million investment in its Coleraine plant, including new clean room facilities, backed by a grant of £8 million from the IDB.
The company had been on short-time working in recent weeks, and its general manager Mr Martin McGuigan admitted that the strength of sterling was seriously affecting its competitive situation in Europe, which accounts for 60 per cent of its total market. The latest redundancies, some of them voluntary, will take effect at all levels of the company.
"We have agreed a procedure with unions to reduce the size of our workforce," Mr McGuigan said. "We currently employ 980 people in Northern Ireland, at our manufacturing plant in Coleraine and at our European distribution centre in Larne. We are constantly reinvesting in these operations, but we have to correct our output to correspond with market trends."
There are also fears that the widespread review of operations being carried out by many other Japanese and Korean companies because of their economic problems at home, could have a knock-on effect in Northern Ireland. The Korean company Daewoo, for example, which employs nearly 1,000 people in Northern Ireland, is carrying out a radical restructuring which, it is feared, could lead to job losses in its factories throughout the world.
A vivid example of the way in which the problems in the Far East can affect European economies was the announcement last week that the £500 million Fujitsu micro-electronics factory in County Durham, is to close, with the loss of 600 jobs. There is growing concern that similar cutbacks could affect factories in Northern Ireland. A spokesperson for the IDB has said that given the current uncertainty, the agency was keeping in touch with all its Asian-owned companies. Fujitsu has a number of operations in Northern Ireland, where its subsidiaries include Fujitsu Telecommunications in west Belfast, ICL (UK), and Kainos Software.
In all, there are between 15 and 20 Asian-owned companies in Northern Ireland, employing over 3,000 people.
The Korean company Daewoo employs 800 people in the assembly of video recorders at its plant in Antrim, and another 200 building VCR tuners at the company's plant in Carrickfergus. Others include AVX, and the Europa Tool Company, in west Belfast, which is a subsidiary of the YG-1Tool Company of Korea. Other Korean firms include Daehwa Metal (UK), in Antrim, and Daesung Circuits in Ballymena. Indonesia is represented by Norfil and Pan European Textiles in Antrim, while Ryobi Aluminium Casting, which is based in Carrickfergus, is a subsidiary of the Ryobi company in Hiroshima.
The reorganisation being carried out by Korean companies is the result of a condition laid down by the International Monetary Fund, which last December loaned the Korean economy nearly $60 billion.
