Xerium to Close Brazilian PMC Facility

Xerium Technologies Inc., Youngsville, N.C., USA, a global provider of industrial consumable products and services, this week announced that it has initiated closure proceedings with the representative union officials at its paper machine clothing (PMC) facility in Joao Pessoa, Brazil. Production following the closure will be transferred to the company's PMC facility in Piracicaba, Brazil where there is sufficient capacity to handle Joao Pessoa's order volume and is strategically located with the ability to better serve the South American market from a logistics standpoint. Due to the nature of the proceedings with the local union, the company is not able to provide a full estimate of the anticipated restructuring expenses at this time.

"We continue to take the required steps to achieve our multi-year repositioning plan to improve our sales, adjusted EBITDA, and share price. These initiatives are well under way and we are pleased with the actions to date and the confidence restored in Xerium both internally and externally. These actions will further strengthen our global responsiveness and competitive edge. These changes require difficult decisions that affect great people, but these are very necessary actions given the economic realities of the markets we serve. As with our previous restructuring efforts, we have firm plans to save as many jobs as possible under these circumstances," said Harold Bevis, Xerium's president and CEO. "We believe these actions will increase our competitiveness in South America, without sacrificing quality or our position in the market."