March 1 (SeeNews) - U.S.-based industrial and consumer sewing thread maker American & Efird (A&E) Global plans to close the factory of its Slovenian subsidiary A&E Europe in Maribor by the summer of 2023, Ljubljana-based media reported.
The management of A&E Europe has informed the workers' council and the trade union that the factory will be closed, as continuing production in Slovenia no longer makes sense from a business perspective, news agency STA reported on Tuesday.
The efforts over the past two years to transform production in Slovenia into a sustainable business model have failed due to the strategies of business partners, as well as the long-term impact of the pandemic, problems in supply chains and logistics, and inflation, STA quoted A&E Europe director Juergen Drescher as saying.
"The unpredictable development of the market in the long term and the enormous increase in the prices of electricity and gas could only be partly passed on to the customers through price increases," Drescher said.
American & Efird Global started production activities in Slovenia in 2006 after acquiring the factory of Tovarna sukancev in trakov Maribor. In 2021, the company signed a collective labour agreement with the employees of the factory after they staged a strike to request higher wages.