Severe losses incurred due to the soaring value of the Thai currency and increased production costs have been cited as the reason for the closure of one of the country’s footwear manufacturers Union Footwear Plc, which plans to de-list its stocks and cease trading on a permanent basis.

A spokesman for the company, which mainly traded in US dollars, stated that it had been suffering accumulated losses for the past three years due to increased competition and rising costs and that the surge in the baht since last year had been the final nail in the coffin for the firm.

The closure will result in the loss of 3,000 jobs.