CANTON, Ohio -- The Timken Co. announced Friday that it will close its Canton bearing manufacturing operations, affecting 1,300 jobs.

The company expects most of the production to be shifted to its other U.S. plants.

Timken employs 4,800 in Stark County and approximately 26,000 worldwide. The Canton-based steel operations are unaffected by the decision.

"We have been meeting with the union for more than eight months to discuss how to make our bearing operations competitive in our changing global marketplace," said James W. Griffith, president and CEO. "We are disappointed that our talks with the union did not lead to the changes necessary to make these facilities viable. Therefore, we will begin moving the products to plants where they can be manufactured competitively."

The company will now meet with the union about this decision.

In September 2003, the company began a series of meetings with the union and associates in the Canton bearing operations to discuss what needed to be done to make the plants competitive.

At that time, the company made it clear that the Canton bearing operations could not continue to operate in their current form. The company indicated it was willing to make the investments necessary to create a focused, competitive operation in the Canton bearing plants if these investments were accompanied by contract modifications. Since then, the company and the union have been unable to agree on the necessary changes.

Production at the Canton bearing plants has declined 27 percent over the last five years as the cost structure of the operations made it difficult to win new business.

The Timken Co. is a leading global manufacturer of highly engineered bearings and alloy steels and a provider of related products and services with operations in 27 countries.