Atchison Rebuilds Jahn Foundry, Plans Closure of Claremont Foundry.

Atchison Casting Corp. (ACC), Atchison, Kansas, plans to complete rebuilding its Jahn Foundry Corp., Springfield, Massachusetts, following the explosion there in 1999. Its molding equipment is expected to be substantially complete by October.

"(The rebuilding) will allow Jahn to stop transporting molds from other facilities to the foundry where they are poured, thereby reducing mold damage and cost and improving quality and productivity," said ACC CEO Hugh Aiken.

Jahn produces shell mold gray iron castings for various industries.

In other news, ACC has decided to close its Claremont Foundry, Inc., a green sand and nobake steel-producing facility in Claremont, New Hampshire, and plans to transfer as much of the work as possible to other ACC foundries.

For fiscal 2000, Claremont generated sales of $4 million and a net loss of $1.5 million. "Despite attempts to rejuvenate Claremont Foundry, ACC has not yet built a sufficient volume of profitable casting business at this foundry," said Aiken. "New Hampshire's extremely high electricity costs also hurt Claremont Foundry."