Grede Holdings LLC will idle Grede Radford LLC, its iron foundry in Radford, VA, by year’s end, the Associated Press reported. The decision would mean lay-offs for 250 workers, though of those 28 salaried workers may be eligible for other positions in the company. Grede has 16 other foundries in the U.S. and Mexico, and four specialty machining operations.
The group produces cast parts for medium- and heavy-trucks, diesel engines, and other markets, in ductile, gray and specialty iron grades.
The Radford foundry was purchased by the Grede organization in 2012, near the end of the string of acquisitions that assembled the current company, following the 2010 merger of the former Grede Foundries and Citation Corp. organizations.
Previously, Cadillac Casting Inc. had paid $9.1 million to buy the longtime Intermet Corp. New River Foundry, which had closed in 2009 as Intermet liquidated.
Speaking to AP, a representative for Grede cited economic considerations for the closing, and also noted that a furnace fire last year had disrupted production there.