Milwaukee-based Grede Foundries Inc. announced it will close its gray and ductile-iron foundry Greenwood, SC, within 90 days. in its statement, Grede said the South Carolina plant is the least efficient of its eight foundries.
The company also indicated it may sell its foundry in Vassar, MI.
In its statement, Grede said the Greenwood Foundry closing is its response to a decline in order volumes “across the economy,” as well as what the company says is a strategy “to keep its remaining plants at high rates of utilization.” Much of the work now assigned to the Greenwood Foundry will be transferred to Grede’s other plants, it said.
Greenwood Foundry produces gray and ductile iron automotive components, and products for other industrial, recreational, and agricultural markets.
The other seven foundries are in Iron Mountain and Vassar, MI; Milwaukee and Reedsburg, WI; New Castle, IN; St. Cloud, MN; and Wichita, KS.
Grede says the neither the closing nor any future sale will affect its ability to supply and service its existing customers.