Kodak will close its Australian manufacturing facility in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg before Christmas this year.

 

September 16, 2004: Kodak will close its Australian manufacturing facility in the Melbourne suburb of Coburg before Christmas this year.
The Coburg plant is one of only nine major Kodak manufacturing plants worldwide, and was Australia’s sole photographic goods manufacturer. Located on a 27-hectare site, its output included Ektacolor paper, Kodak film and photographic chemicals, most of which was exported to countries in the Asia Pacific region. The company received a series of grants from the Federal and State governments between 1991 and 1993 to assist its export programs, on condition that it continued to produce goods for export for five years. That condition was met in mid-1995 and the company has since received a number of additional special purpose grants from the state government. At the peak of the Coburg plant’s operations, Kodak Australia employed more than 1300 people in imaging, information technology, health services and manufacturing.
The closure of the Coburg plant, which becomes effective on 26 November, and the company’s wholesale photo processing facility on 22 October will result in approximately 600 staff being made redundant. In a media announcement of the plant’s closure, Kodak Australia Chairman and MD, John Allen, said: “These closures have been caused by the fundamental change in consumer behaviour driven by the increasing popularity of digital photography, in Australia and worldwide. This decision was in no way influenced by the performance of our operations, or Australian economic, industrial or political factors – Kodak values the strong support it has received from its employees, governments and the local community. Kodak remains committed to the Australian market and will continue to offer a full range of traditional and digital photographic services and products to our consumer and commercial customers.”