| Bridon Ropes Ltd, UK, has announced that its manufacturing capability in Retford, UK, which manufactures 8,000 tonnes of ropes a year for the lifting, construction and engineering industries, will close in March 2004. By this time, 90% of the site�s machinery and production capacity will have been transferred to the company�s remaining manufacturing plants in Doncaster and Willington Quay, UK. The remaining 10%, dedicated to the production of general engineering ropes below 16mm � and a small range of lift ropes, will be decommissioned - a decision driven by commercial necessity as demand for cheaper Far East and Eastern Europe imports continues to squeeze UK manufacturers out of the smaller wire rope market. Meanwhile, manufacture of high-performance crane ropes will be unaffected by the change.
The Bridon Willington Quay factory has recently benefited from major investments in new machinery and already produces 20,000 tonnes of ropes a year. Doncaster will continue to specialise in the production of heavier ropes for the offshore and construction industries with a greater number of high-performance products being manufactured at both sites. �It is with huge regret that we have had to make this difficult decision�, commented Mr Steve Rutherford, managing director of the Bridon Group. �As our share of the market for finer diameter ropes has declined it has become increasingly difficult for us to justify the Retford site. Bridon has a world leading position in the supply of high-performance products and it is this share of the market on which we need to concentrate�.
Bridon Ropes Ltd manufactures wire ropes for cranes and elevators as well as the mining, fishing, offshore and construction industries. The company is part of the Bridon Group, which in turn is part of the FKI group of companies. The Bridon Group was established in 1924 and now has manufacturing plants in the UK, Germany, USA, Indonesia and New Zealand. Sales and distribution units exist in Moscow, Dubai, Singapore, China and Hong Kong with additional representation in all major countries. The Bridon Group, including Bridon Ropes, manufactures:
- Alloy and stainless wires such as engineering and spring wires, automotive bearing wires, wire lines for the offshore oil industry;
- Construction wires and strands: pre-stress wires for the construction industry and pre-stress strands (sheathed and unsheathed) for larger structures;
- Roping and engineering wires: specialist high-carbon engineering wires for ropes and general engineering/armouring;
- Industrial ropes: specialist ropes for the offshore, construction and general engineering industries;
- Energy ropes: mooring, drilling, pipe laying and crane ropes for the offshore industry, infrastructure build and production;
- Mining ropes: complex ropes for shaft mining, surface mining ropes and cable belt ropes;
- Fishing, such as steel wire trawl ropes
- Structures: spiral strands and locked coil ropes for deep water moorings, buildings, stadia and bridges;
- Marine: steel wire ropes for marine applications
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