DON MILLS, Ont. — Hendrickson International is closing its Chicago-area plant and transferring production of conventional, multi-leaf and taper-leaf medium and heavy duty truck springs to facilities in Mexico and Stratford, Ont.

“Current market conditions in the heavy duty vehicle industry, coupled with longer-term trends toward lighter, less complex springs, have put us in a position where we have significant overcapacity,” says Steve Mance, general manager, Hendrickson Spring.

“At the same time, many spring products increasingly are viewed as commodity products, with price being the key customer requirements. These factors have made the Chicago plant non-competitive.”

Hendrickson should finish the transfer by September.