Agfa Graphics has announced that it intends to close its factory in Branchburg, New Jersey, US, one of its six production sites for printing plates worldwide.
Image: Agfa Graphics is planning to close offset printing plate factory in Branchburg, US. Photo: courtesy of posterize/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
This plant produces lithographic aluminum printing plates for offset presses. In recent years, market demand for these products has slightly decreased in Europe and the USA. In other regions, such as Asia, demand increased.
Agfa Graphics president Stefaan Vanhooren said: “This decision is part of our strategic plan to optimize our global production capacity and supply chain for printing plates. This is necessary to remain a strong player in the extremely competitive global prepress market, which is transforming rapidly.
“This closure will have an impact on 125 jobs. We are committed to minimizing the social impact of this closure as much as possible. Furthermore, this decision will have no impact on our high standards of delivery of our goods and services to our customers in North America”.
The Agfa-Gevaert Group develops, manufactures and distributes an extensive range of analogue and digital imaging systems and IT solutions, mainly for the printing industry and the healthcare sector, as well as for specific industrial applications.
Agfa’s headquarters and parent company are located in Mortsel, Belgium. The Agfa-Gevaert Group achieved a turnover of 2,443 million euro in 2017.
Source: Company Press Release