Lafarge cuts 47 jobs at Woodstock cement plant

Source: Woodstock Sentinel Review - 08-11-08

Lafarge North America's Woodstock cement plant is stopping its manufacturing operations, a decision that will mean another 47 job cuts as the facility shifts to solely a "grinding and packaging operation."

The 15 salaried and 32 hourly employees affected by the announcement were given the bad news by company officials Thursday morning. According to a corporate press release, Lafarge intends to offer "outplacement assistance and counseling services" to the former workers. These job cuts, in addition to the permanent layoff of 19 workers earlier this year, leave only a handful of employees at the Woodstock plant.

Lafarge is "exploring opportunities" at its other Canadian facilities for employees who are interested in transferring.

Company officials attributed the decision to cease clinker production at the plant to a variety of economic pressures, including the beleaguered construction sector in the U.S. and Canada.

"The decision to stop clinker operation in Woodstock was a very difficult one to make," said Alexis Langois, the president of the Lafarge North America's cement lakes and seaway business unit.

"The cement market in Ontario and adjacent U.S. states has declined in the last few years, and based on market recovery expectations, Lafarge needed to 'right size' its industrial network."

With the added pressure of high energy prices, corporate officials indicated the Woodstock plant was at a "serious disadvantage" when compared with other Lafarge facilities in "neighbouring jurisdictions."

Langois attributed some of this disadvantage to the plant's "inability to gain approval for 'Alternative Fuels in Ontario,' which would have helped us reduce our consumption of fossil fuels, our carbon footprint and our cost." Langois was likely referring to a provincial Ministry of Revenue program that offers sales-tax refunds on vehicles that use alternative fuels.

A telephone call to plant manager Ramesh Chary was not returned by press time.

The Woodstock plant's soon-to-be-suspended manufacturing operations involved the production of clinker, a solid material produced in the kiln stage that resembles small rocks and is eventually ground to make cement. The plant's two cement kilns will now be "put in care-and-maintain mode" for what officials described as an "indefinite period."

Located roughly 10 kilometres west of Woodstock, the Lafarge plant fired up its first cement-manufacturing kiln more than five decades ago. Originally owned by the Canada Cement Company Ltd., the plant was modernized after its purchase by Lafarge, resulting in a largely automated facility that, until recently, boasted about 85 hourly and salaried workers.

With the suspension of clinker production scheduled for the second week of December, and a transition period expected as the plant shifts to grinding and packaging, Langois said the company "will continue to service customers from other Lafarge production and distribution facilities."

Lafarge, which boasts 90,000 employees and operations in 76 countries, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of construction materials with annual sales in the region of $25 billion.