Over 80 layoffs hit auto industry plant outside Charlotte that’s closing after 31 years

An auto industry manufacturer is permanently shuttering its Rowan County site, northeast of Charlotte, leaving over 80 people without jobs, according to a recent filing with the state Commerce Department.

Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) filing received Thursday by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

Hitachi Metals North Carolina in China Grove specializes in manufacturing “ceramic ferrite magnets” for the automotive industry, according to the company’s Facebook page.

The 81 layoffs are effective Sept. 30 through Dec. 31, CEO and President Toru Koizumi said in the report.

The employees — listed in the report as grinding operators to inspection roles and office, maintenance to press — will be paid wages and benefits through their termination date. There are no unionized workers at the China Grove site.

The report did not say why the plant is closing. Hitachi North Carolina company officials did not immediately respond to a request comment Monday.

Hitachi Metals, based in Tokyo, Japan, has operated in China Grove for 31 years, according to Rowan Economic Development Corp.’s website.

Hitachi Ltd’s consolidated revenues for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, totaled $78.6 billion, with 871 consolidated subsidiaries and about 350,000 employees worldwide.

Hitachi has nine manufacturing plants and subsidiaries in the U.S., including Conway, S.C., according to the company’s website.