Some workers at Salisbury’s Norandal USA plant will lose their jobs as parent company Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp. lays off 338 employees across its operations, the company said in a release Thursday.
Franklin, Tenn.-based Noranda said the worsening economy is forcing the restructuring to “conserve liquidity and improve operating efficiencies.” The job reductions are expected to save the company about $23 million a year, the release said.The layoffs will affect several plants and Noranda didn’t provide a breakdown of how many employees will lose their jobs at each plant. In September, Noranda said it would eliminate 22 hourly jobs in Salisbury in a continued downsizing of the workforce there, which numbered 240 last year and was to be 163.
The company said 96 layoffs at its “downstream” foil-producing plants, which include Salisbury, will be substantially completed by the end of the year. The remaining layoffs announced Thursday will be in the company’s “upstream” primary-metals business and some will take effect early in 2009.
Norandal USA produces rolls of aluminum foil used in heating and air-conditioning, packaging and printing applications. Its Salisbury plant is located along Jake Alexander Boulevard near Old Concord Road. The September layoffs were due to lagging shipments because of downturns in the automotive and housing industries, a company official said at the time.
“Noranda remains committed to its strategy to improve productivity and grow its business to support our customers, communities, suppliers, co-workers and investors,” Layle K. “Kip” Smith, chief executive officer and president said in a statement Thursday.
“Current economic conditions require that we take accelerated actions to reduce our costs, improve our productivity and conserve our liquidity, so that we can continue to build a long-term sustainable company. This restructuring initiative, which is a continuation of our CORE cost savings and productivity program, will position our company better in the short-term and build a strong foundation for our future.”
The company said it expects the layoffs to result in one-time, pre-tax charges of between $7 million and $12 million, primarily due to one-time termination benefits.