More redundancies have been confirmed in the north’s materials processing sector amid a slowdown in sales of locally manufactured machinery in key markets.
The Finnish-owned MPP Group, which includes mobile crushing and screening specialist McCloskey International in Dungannon and Clonoe; Tesab Engineering in Omagh; and Tedd Engineering in Newbridge, is understood to have cut between 60 and 70 jobs across its Northern Ireland operations in recent months.
It’s believed the engineering group has been hit by a slowdown in its core Northern American market, where sales have suffered in the high interest environment.
It follows around 150 redundancies at Terex over the summer, with the US manufacturer last month also moving to cut the hours of hundreds of its Northern Ireland workers.
It’s understood the slowdown in the materials handling sector is being felt across the engineering cluster in Co Tyrone and Mid Ulster, with a number of firms also moving to reduce their working hours.
Sources familiar with the McCloskey business said the company has primarily achieved the workforce cuts with voluntary redundancies and employee attrition over recent weeks and months.
However, a small number of compulsory redundancies are believed to be on the table.
The group’s northern workforce, based across its three subsidiaries, has been reduced from around 460 people at the start of the year to just under 400.
McCloskey International was founded in Canada in 1985 by Co Derry native Paschal McCloskey.
The engineering company operates from a manufacturing base in Ontario, but maintains a key presence in Co Tyrone, including a £17m facility it opened in Granville, just outside Dungannon during 2017.
The McCloskey business was acquired in 2019 by Finland’s Metso Corporation for a reported €279m (£244m).
The company restructured as MPP Global last year and acquired Tedd Engineering in November 2023.
The slowdown in the mobile crushing and screening sector followed a bumper 2023 for local manufacturing operations with profits soaring.
Terex GB recently disclosed a pre-tax profit of £95.2m for 2023.
The latest accounts for McCloskey International show its profit-before-tax rose 88% last year to £38.2m.
It followed a 19% annual uplift in turnover to £235.5m during 2023.
According to the report published by Companies House, McCloskey International’s Finnish parent entity, Metso Oyj, took a £17m dividend out of the business on April 26 2024.