Niigata Machine Techno USA Inc. will not be selling new Niigata injection molding machines going forward but will continue with service and parts sales.
The contract the Elk Grove, Ill.-based company has to sell presses produced by Japan-based Niigata Machinery Co. Ltd. (NMC) expires on Feb. 28, 2025, and won't be renewed.
However, Niigata USA will remain open to service existing machines and sell parts.
"At Niigata USA, we're closing the injection molding division, but we still will be open for service. We're not going to turn our back on warranties or parts. The parts department also will be open for the foreseeable future," General Manager Steve Cunningham said in a phone interview.
In March 2023, Japan's Niigata Machine Techno Co. Ltd. had spun off the injection molding side of its business into a separate company called Niigata Machinery Co. Ltd.
Then, NMC became part of China's Haitian International Holdings.
The goal was to give NMC, which was founded in 1895 in Niigata City, Japan, a fresh start as part of a group of companies that also includes Haitian Plastics Machinery Group Co. Ltd., the biggest manufacturer of injection molding machines in the world.
Niigata and Haitian had collaborated in the past, establishing a joint venture in 2017 with Haitian supplying frames and castings to Niigata in Japan.
The JV now is 100 percent owned by Haitian International Holdings.
NMC's latest move is similar to an automaker telling one of its dealerships it won't supply them with new vehicles anymore.
"Niigata will still sell machines here, but I don't know what that organization looks like," Cunningham said. "There are many unknowns right now."
Plastics News reached out to an NMC official for comment but didn't receive an immediate response.