KEY POINTS:
Fletcher Building is about to close a large Papakura plant and shift production to China.
Most of the 60 Auckland workers will be made redundant.
David Worley, head of the Australian-based Laminex Group, which is one of NZX-listed Fletcher's five divisions, said the first phase of the laminate plant closure would start next month.
Worley said it was the end of an era because materials for the iconic Formica kitchen table - undergoing a resurgence in popularity - had been produced at Papakura for many years.
Fletcher's $1 billion purchase of the American-headquartered Formica sparked the move to production in Shanghai, he said.
"The Formica acquisition really led to this situation," Worley said from Melbourne yesterday. "Formica manufacturers product which we can import from China at a significantly lower cost. Papakura has done a terrific job over many years but there's a lower cost of production in Shanghai.
"In any event, we had excess capacity, regardless of Formica, because we had a plant in Melbourne too," Worley said.
The Papakura plant at 30 Tironui Rd opened in 1959 and Worley said the 5ha site with adjoining buildings would be sold.
Last year, Fletcher said it would close its Penrose hardboard and soft board plant which was unprofitable and needed a $3 million to $4 million upgrade to control offensive odours. About 65 staff worked there.
Worley said he was sad to see the Papakura plant finish.
"Obviously, it's really hard and very, very difficult for a group of people. It has to be said that this has got very very little do with the staff or their efforts and good work," he said.
On April 10, high-pressure laminate production will cease. Within three to six months, the production of treated paper for low-pressure laminates will stop.
Staff have been offered three options: job search assistance, relocation or redundancy.
Worley said most would take redundancy although the company wanted to relocate staff with particular technical skills, either to Laminex or Formica.
