NGK Ceramics Announces Layoffs and NC Plant Shutdown

NGK Ceramics USA Inc. announced on Monday that it is laying off 85 employees at a plant in Mooresville, North Carolina. The plant will also halt production until March 2.

NGK, a Japanese company that makes ceramic honeycombs for catalytic converters, cites the ongoing slump in automobile sales as the reason for the layoffs. According to Steve Dailey, vice president and general manager, the company cannot remain at its current size because of declining car and truck sales.

The company opened plants in America to help American automotive companies with their desire to buy more products made in the United States. The raw materials used to make the ceramics are also mined in the United States. NGK stayed and expanded in the US, even as other American-owned manufactures moved their operations overseas.