Click Clack to close Palmerston North plant

Plastics manufacturer Click Clack is to cease manufacturing in Palmerston North by November.

Chief executive John Heng blamed the high New Zealand dollar for the closure.

He noted that about 90 per cent of his competitors had moved or were moving their production to China.

"I suppose I could join the 90 per cent, but I still believe in competing on quality product with quality people," he said.

Click Clack remained committed to its international reputation for design and "delivering the goods", he said, but volatile market conditions - currency values, competition from low-cost countries, subsidised manufacture in overseas markets and design theft - had cost the company more than $13 million in revenue over two years.

Some of the positions affected by the manufacturing shutdown will transfer to Click Clack plants in Levin and Christchurch, where the company will consolidate its New Zealand manufacturing.

The decision to shut the Palmerston North plant coincides with the end of a six-year lease on the building.

The company owns its manufacturing sites in Levin and Christchurch. Both have room to expand.

The net effect across the company's staff of 250 will be a loss of 10 positions.

- NZPA