Imperial Tobacco Closing Guelph Plant

Source from:  Last updated Oct 21 2005 10:42 AM EDT CBC News 10/24/2005

Imperial Tobacco says it plans to close its Guelph cigarette plant next year eliminating 555 jobs. The company will also close its Aylmer, Ont., operations in 2007, eliminating 80 positions. Another 15 jobs are expected to be cut at the company's headquarters in Montreal. Imperial said it will shift its production to Monterrey, Mexico. "The yearly decline in tobacco sales is affecting the company's manufacturing, and its unit costs have escalated to a level where the company can no longer ignore the situation," Imperial said in a release Thursday. The company said its tobacco volume declined from 32.7 billion cigarettes annually to 20.5 billion between December 1994 and June 2005. The Guelph plant opened in 1959. Enditem