Nordex restructure to cost up to €75 million

Last month the turbine manufacturer announced it was shedding 130 jobs at its blade factory at Dongying, east China, with a view to eventually shutting the plant down.

Nordex is also restructuring its struggling US business, with the firm saying it would release further details of plant closures and job cuts in due course.

Just 5% of Nordex's business came from the US in 2012 and only 1% from China.

However, despite struggling in the world's two largest wind markets, Nordex managed to achieve a record year for new business in 2012, with €1.27 billion of new turbine orders. This was up 14.6% from the €1.1 billion of new orders achieved in 2011.

More than half of the value of Nordex's new orders in 2012 came in the fourth quarter, with deals totalling €628 million being signed, up from €400 million in Q4 2011.

Demand in 2012 largely came from Europe, with Nordex's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region accounting for 94% of new orders last year. The demand was largely focused on Nordex's two largest turbines, with more than half of all new contracts being signed for the N100/2500 and the N117/2400.