Metso inaugurate new screen media factory in Mexico
Company inaugurates new factory in Mexico and confirms decision to close factory in Sweden
METSO today celebrated the inauguration of their new screen media factory in Irapuato, Mexico. The factory will significantly increase Metso’s supply and delivery capabilities for mining and aggregates customers in North and Central America.
The screen media centre employs 46 people and is located on a lot measuring more than 9,000m2. The new factory uses advanced and sustainable manufacturing practices, and the installed solar panels will cover approximately 50% of its electricity requirements.
‘We are very pleased to officially inaugurate our new screen media factory in Irapuato, said Alfredo Monreal, Metso’s vice-president of sales and service for Mexico and Central America. ‘This milestone is yet another indication of our deep commitment to customer success. The Irapuato region is an important centre of excellence for high-quality products for our mining and aggregates customers. All our factories are modern and focused on safety, employee well-being, and continuous development.’
Metso’s screening installed base in the Americas has grown significantly: last year alone the company delivered a total of 250 new screening machines to mining and aggregates customers.
‘Our target is to continuously develop our operations close to customers to further improve our service capability. The investment of a new factory in Mexico aligns with our strategy and improves our lead times, and it offers scalability in production volumes in a very important region,’ said Jouni Mähönen, vice president of Metso’s Screening business line.
Today, Metso have approximately 730 employees working in production, sales, and field service in Mexico.
In the same industrial area in Irapuato, Metso also have a new rubber and Poly-Met media factory. Construction of a new polymer filter plate factory will be finalized during 2024, and the factory will be operational in early 2025.
Metso’s screen offering consists of banana screens, horizontal screens, inclined screens, mobile screens, portable screens, and ultrafine screens. With screen media solutions that range from rubber and polyurethane to classic wire, Metso offer versatile systems for a wide range of screening applications.
Meanwhile, it was announced last week that Metso have concluded union negotiations at their Trelleborg rubber and Poly-Met factory in Sweden. After carefully evaluating the supply chain operations at a regional and global level from the customer proximity, logistics, and efficiency perspectives, the company has decided to discontinue the factory operations.
Metso have approximately 120 employees in Trelleborg, and the decision will affect 68 manufacturing-related positions. Factory operations will be ramped down in stages from the beginning of the second quarter of 2024, with full closure expected in the third quarter. Thereafter, Metso will have around 50 employees based in Trelleborg, working in product management, support functions, and other global roles.
‘During the negotiations, we evaluated the future of the factory as a whole and concluded that discontinuing the rubber and Poly-Met manufacturing operations in Sweden was unfortunately the only feasible solution,’ said Heikki Metsälä, president of Metso’s Consumables business area.
He added: ‘Our employees in Trelleborg are highly skilled and experienced manufacturing professionals, and we will do our best to support them in finding new job opportunities. The plant closure will be implemented in a phased manner to ensure good customer service and production capability build-up in other plants.’
European rubber and Poly-Met customers will now be mainly served by Metso’s factory in Lithuania, where production capabilities will be further strengthened. After the closing of the factory in Trelleborg, Metso will have rubber and Poly-Met factories in Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Peru, India, Lithuania, and Australia.
