Italian minister criticises Bridgestone plant closure

ERJ staff report (LMH)

Rome – The Italian Minister of industry Corrado Passera has written to Bridgestone Corp. to complain about the tire maker’s plans to close a plant in southern Italy next year, Reuters reports.

The ministry is said to have called the decision serious and unjustified. Officials from the Ministry, unions and the regional government of Puglia where the plant is located are due to meet on 14 March to discuss the case with Bridgestone’s European board.

ERJ reported that Bridgestone is to close the passenger tire plant in Modugno, near Bari, in early 2014 because of increased cost pressures in the low-end of the market. Reuters added that the closure of the plant, which employs 950 workers, is another blow to the industrial infrastructure of the southern region of Italy, which is traditionally a poorer region than the north.

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News Release from Reuters