Atchison tn Consolidate Several Foundry Operations.

Atchison Casting Corp., Atchison, Kansas, plans to close one of three steel foundries belonging to its Pennsylvania Foundry Group unit and one of two iron foundries belonging to its PrimeCast unit in Beloit, Wisconsin.

"In order to improve operating results and cash flow, we are closing two more North American foundries that are operating at low capacity and transferring as much of their production as possible to other Atchison plants," said Hugh Aiken, CEO.

The work being performed by Pennsylvania Steel Foundry & Machine Co., Hamburg, Pennsylvania, part of ACC's Pennsylvania Foundry Group, will be transferred to the group's other two foundries to achieve better capacity utilization at those plants.

The decision to close one of PrimeCast's iron foundries follows the bankruptcy of the foundry's major customer and former parent, Beloit Corp. (Harnischfeger Industries) and the loss of its 5-year supply agreement with Beloit.

"The difficulty of reaching profitability at PrimeCast following the demise of its largest customer led to the decision to downsize that operation by eliminating green sand molding and the production of small iron castings," said Tom Armstrong, COO-North America. "As much of this work as possible will be transferred to other ACC foundries. PrimeCast will now focus on large iron castings and, to a lesser extent, high-alloy steel parts."