Martinrea and moving targets

By Michael Hammond, Record staff

After the market close today (Monday), Martinrea International will release its first quarter results. Early Tuesday morning, its executives will hold a conference call to discuss the results. These conference calls have taken on added importance of late since these calls provide clues as to what will happen to the beleaguered Kitchener Frame plant.

During Martinrea's fourth quarter conference call, the company's executives hinted that they still had faint hopes that something could be found for the plant, which employs 1,200 people. More recently, the company posted a notice at the Homer Watson Boulevard plant informing its employees that it intended to close the facility next spring.

Of course, there is a chance the plant could continue to operate until 2010, since it is under contract to provide frames for GM sport utility vehicles until then. GM has yet to sign off on an extension agreement, since production of SUVs has been suspended by the American Axle strike, which has cut off the axle supply to a number of GM models. That strike has all but idled the Kitchener Frame plant along with several other auto suppliers in the region.

Reports suggest some progress is being made to end the lengthy Axle strike, although there are reports that the company wants to close some of its plants, which has the United Auto Workers digging in its heels.

Like anything else in the North American automotive industry these days, Kitchener Frame's situation is complex and very much a moving target.

For more on Martinrea, read the print edition of The Record.

mhammond@therecord.com