Automotive wire harnesses manufacturer Sumitomo Electric (SE) Bordnetze Bulgaria, part of Germany based Sumitomo Electric Bordnetze (SEBN), plans to shut down its plant in the town of Mezdra and scale back operations at its factory in Karnobat next year, Bulgarian state news agency BTA reported, according to SeeNews.com.

SE Bordnetze will relocate production to its plants in Moldova and Romania due to high production costs in Bulgaria, especially rising labour costs, which have negatively impacted the company’s ability to outsource new wire harness production projects to its Bulgarian locations, BTA quoted SE Bordnetze as saying in a statement.

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Despite efforts to find alternative solutions that would maintain current production levels in Bulgaria, the company found the increasing labour costs unsustainable, SE Bordnetze Bulgaria said, adding that it will provide severance packages and a relocation programme to the affected employees.

The Mezdra plant, which opened in 2008 and employs around 950 people, is set to close at the end of March 2025. Meanwhile, the Karnobat plant, currently employing 1,000 staff, will cut around 100 jobs starting in February.

SEBN is a global automotive supplier with 42 locations across 13 countries, specialising in wiring systems and electrical and electronic components for conventional and electric vehicles. Its parent company, Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Industries, operates 380 subsidiaries worldwide with a workforce of 280,000 and sales of US$30bn (EUR27.1bn) in 2023, SeeNews.com noted.

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