Whirlpool Corp. said on August 28 it would close a plant in Evansville, Indiana, eliminating some 1,100 jobs by mid-2010.

Production of refrigerators made at Evansville will be transferred to a facility in Mexico while icemakers will be relocated to a site yet to be determined.

"The announcement follows a comprehensive review of alternatives for product consolidation within the refrigeration product category," the Michigan-based firm said. The company also said that it is evaluating options for the best location for its refrigeration product development center at the Evansville plant that employs about 300 people.

"This was a difficult but necessary decision," said Al Holaday, vice president of Whirlpool's North American manufacturing operations. "To reduce excess capacity and improve costs the decision was made to consolidate production within our existing North American manufacturing facilities. This will allow us to streamline our operations, improve our capacity utilization, reduce product overlap between plants, and meet future production requirements.

Among the biggest appliance makers, Whirlpool markets the brands Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, Amana, Brastemp, Consul, Bauknecht and others in nearly every country around the world.

Copyright Agence France-Presse