Ferro Corp. plans to close its Niagara Falls, N.Y., facility by the end of 2007. Approximately 150 employees are located at the facility, which supplies a range of dielectric and industrial ceramic products for the electronic materials and other marketplaces. The activities currently performed at Niagara Falls will be gradually transferred to other Ferro facilities.

"The Niagara Falls facility has been impacted by changes in its markets," said Barry Russell, vice president of Ferro Electronic Material Systems. "Demand for the types of products produced at the Niagara Falls facility has diminished greatly over the last several years. The remaining volume of business is insufficient to support the current manufacturing capacity, and this is not expected to change in the future. Ferro regrets the impact that this difficult, but necessary, business decision will have on our employees. However, the proposed closure will allow us to remain competitive and at the same time retain the flexibility needed to support future business growth."

Ferro also maintains a production facility in Penn Yan, N.Y. That site employs about 207 and also produces materials for the electronic materials market. Ferro anticipates that the transfer of a portion of the work currently being done in Niagara Falls will add approximately 25 jobs at the Penn Yan facility, while other work transfer is expected to add about 16 jobs at Ferro's site in Uden, the Netherlands.

Ferro's website is located at www.ferro.com.