Weekly

Continental discontinues production of rollers and sleeves

10 September 2024

The Continental Corporation is discontinuing its business with rollers and sleeves for industrial applications, including the printing industry, by the end of 2024.

The background to this decision by Continental's ContiTech division is ‘a market environment that has remained difficult for several years with high competitive and cost pressure’, according to a press release.

Even a cost-cutting programme initiated in 2021 has not brought the hoped-for turnaround for the product division, Continental writes. Around 20 employees at the Waltershausen site in Thuringia are affected by the discontinuation. In total, almost 1,000 people work for Continental in Waltershausen.

The management was prompted to make this decision by the ongoing tense economic situation in the area, it says. Tests of alternative procedures had failed to produce any practicable results. The colleagues directly affected in production and administration were informed of the decision on 9 September. The company is endeavouring to find socially acceptable solutions for them and has begun talks with the employee representatives.

‘We regret this economically necessary step,’ explains Andreas Bakenhus, Head of Continental's Elastomer Coatings business segment in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East and Africa). ‘Unfortunately, the headwind from the difficult market environment was too great despite all our efforts.’

According to Continental, the printing industry remains an important customer group for the company. Only rollers and sleeves, i.e. cores for printing and other machines, are affected by the changes to the product portfolio. Other products for the printing industry, such as offset printing blankets, will remain part of Continental's portfolio. ‘We believe in the future of the printing industry, despite the obvious challenges,’ says Andreas Bakenhus.

Source: Print.de