Carlisle moving some production from China
ERJ staff report (R&PN)
Charlotte. North Carolina -- Carlisle Companies Inc. Transportation Products business is moving some production back to the US from China.
The company's Transportation Products business plans to close its Buji, China, power transmission parts plant and shift manufacturing to the firm's Springfield, Mo., and Fort Scott, Kan., factories, which also produce power transmission products, David Roberts, chairman, president and CEO, said during a conference call shortly after the firm released its third quarter financial results.
Roberts said Carlisle's Transportation Products business expects a charge of about $500,000 to flow through the segment's income statement as it completes the shutdown of the Buji plant and transfers product production to the Fort Scott and Springfield facilities.
He didn't elaborate and other company officials declined further comment when contacted after the conference call.
Carlisle has been quietly consolidating some production in the US for the last few years. In August 2010 the company spent about $65 million to purchase, refurbish and convert a former Whirlpool Corp. factory in Jackson, Tenn., to produce tyres.
It then relocated tyre production from its plant in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to the new 568,000-sq.-ft. site. The firm closed the 93-year-old facility at the end of 2010.
Carlisle also moved some tyre lines from the Buji plant to Jackson along with the tyre and wheel assembly operation that had been handled at its Bowden, Georgia, factory, which was destroyed by fire in 2008.
Roberts said the Transportation Products business made progress during the third quarter. The operation's sales rose 1 percent to $158.2 million, he said, and the operation's semi-pneumatic tyres used on planters and seeders, which are part of the agricultural segment, are selling at a good rate.
Despite the fact that crop yields are down in many regions of the US, grain prices are up and offsetting the drop in yields, he noted. That has afforded farmers the opportunity to invest in new equipment, which in turn has positively impacted tyre sales, he said.
The firm's Construction Materials business segment-single-ply roofing and waterproofing systems-also had a 1 percent gain in sales for the quarter while Interconnect Technologies' revenues were up 21 percent, Food Service's sales rose 3 percent and Brake and Friction revenues fell 10 percent.
Overall, the diversified manufacturer's sales for the third quarter increased 4.6 percent to $910.2 million over the like period in 2011. Income from continuing operations rose 30 percent to $69.7 million.
For the nine-month period, sales climbed 14.3 percent to $2.78 billion while income jumped 54 percent to $219.2 million.
Carlisle's products are used in a wide variety of industries, including health care, commercial roofing, agriculture, mining and construction equipment, and lawn and garden.
From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)
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