Economic woes take their toll on Norkis, another Cebu firm

CEBU – The economic crisis has taken its toll on two big companies in the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.

Norkis Trading Corp.’s Yamaha motorcycle assembly plant in Mandaue and the American firm Xante Corp. at the Mactan Export Processing Zone (MEPZ) are expected to shut down soon, leaving at least 3,000 people without jobs.

The assembly plant will close on Dec. 3, while the American firm has already notified the zone authority of its impending closure.

Norkis spokesman Edilberto Emphasis said the closure of the Yamaha motorcycle assembly plant is expected to greatly affect the entire operations of Norkis since it is its "bread and butter."

Emphasis blamed the weakening peso and high interest rates as the reason for the closure, saying up to 90 percent of materials used in the assembly plant are imported.

"The company has stopped importing for more than a month now," he said.

He said the increasing number of other brands of imported motorcycles in the country is also eating into company profits.

What is left of Norkis Trading now is its multicab business, Porta Coeli, where Emphasis sits as chief operating officer.

But even this has not been spared the crunch with Porta Coeli having already retrenched 24 workers, Emphasis said.

The Yamaha motorcycle assembly plant has 300 direct workers and 2,700 suppliers, subcontractors and marketing personnel who will also be affected by the shutdown. – Freeman News Service