Up to 25 jobs will be lost in Whangarei as the fertiliser company Ballance Agri-Nutrients closes it manufacturing operation in the city.
Production will be moved to Tauranga.
The company says the Whangarei site will remain as a service and distribution centre only.
Ballance general manager Greg Delaney says the demand for super-phosphate produced at the plant has been falling steadily over the past 10 years because of urban sprawl.
He says much formerly productive farmland in the Auckland and Northland regions has been converted into lifestyle blocks.
Mr Delaney says Ballance is offering jobs elsewhere in the company to the Whangarei staff affected by the closure and hopes to keep forced redundancies to a minimum.
