MEXICO CITY — Mexican auto parts maker Nemak said on Wednesday it will close a manufacturing plant in Windsor, Canada, by mid-2020 after the loss of a Chinese client.
Nemak, a unit of Mexican conglomerate Alfa, said the Windsor plant represents 1 percent of its revenue, employs 270 people and produces engine blocks.
"The decision comes on the back of the expected withdrawal from an export program by a client in China, which will lead the plant to use less than 10 per cent of its installed capacity by 2020," the company said in a statement.
Unifor Local 200 President John D'Agnolo told CBC Windsor that the plant's closure is a result of reduced supply needs for GM's Shanghai facility.
About 90 percent of the engine blocks produced in Nemak's Windsor plant are destined for Cadillac vehicles at GM's Shanghai plant, CBC Windsor reported.
The announcement of closure comes just two years after the federal government gave the supplier $3 million in funding develop new powertrain lightweighting technologies.
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