Ohio Castings acquires Alliance rail castings foundry.

Ohio Castings Co., Canton, Ohio, has reached an agreement with ASF-Keystone, Granite City, Illinois, to acquire its foundry located in Alliance, Ohio. This acquisition follows Ohio Castings' investment in a foundry in Cicero, Illinois earlier this year. Ohio Castings is a joint venture between ACF Industries Holding Corp. and ASF-Keystone.

The Alliance foundry will operate as Alliance Castings Co., L.L.C., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ohio Castings, and will manufacture side frames and bolsters for ASF-Keystone, who will in turn re-market them to the railroad industry. The Alliance foundry was shut down in 2002 as a result of a severe downturn in the demand for new railcars. Since then demand has recovered, but industry casting capacity is below market demand.

"This is an important step in providing the railcar building industry with a stable supply base of casting manufacturers," said Jim Unger, vice chairman of ACF Industries. "The current shortage of castings is costing the industry millions of dollars in lost production and delayed shipments. Reopening Alliance will go a long way to solving that problem."

"Our customers have been severely impacted by the current shortage of castings and reopening Alliance will bring some welcome relief," said John Wories, president of ASF-Keystone. "This partnership between suppliers and railcar builders is a very positive development for our industry."