AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT AK STEEL (UPDATED)

MARCH 28, 2020 — 48 LAYOFFS IN ROCKPORT, INDIANA.

The company has announced that it will be laying off 48 employees at the Rockport works located in Rockport, Indiana. The layoffs will become effective on March 31, 2020 and include 31 in operations and 17 in maintenance that are associated with the APL (Annealing and Pickling Line) operations.

MARCH 7, 2020 — MAJOR WARNING OF POTENTIAL JOB LOSS IN BUTLER, PENNSYLVANIA AND ZANESVILLE, OHIO.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc., the company that IS acquiring AK Steel for nearly $3 billion and closing the transaction on March 13, 2020, has told Congress that unless steel tariffs were modified, they would be forced to take adverse action.

The company has suggested that it might be forced to lay off 1,500 jobs in Butler, Pennsylvania, and 100 jobs in Zanesville, Ohio, unless the tariffs allow the company to earn a profit.

Unless transformer laminations and cores, which are made from the company’s gain-oriented steel, are included in the tariffs, the two plants will be shut down.Chester, Ohio-based AK Steel Holding Corporation, a producer of flat-rolled carbon,”

Original post…

West Chester, Ohio-based AK Steel Holding Corporation, a producer of flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steel products, has announced the final closure of its Ashland, Kentucky steel works facility by the end of 2019, impacting 260 employees. Employees were notified in January, 2019 about the permanent closure which should have not come as a surprise since many of the operations, including the blast furnace, were idled in December 2015. Many long-term employees are expected to seek retirement and others are welcome to apply to the company’s other facilities in Dearborn, Michigan and Middletown, Ohio.

It is anticipated that 176 employees will be laid off in November and the remaining 84 employees will be laid of in December. The production and hot-dip galvanized coating equipment will be disassembled and transferred to other AK Steel facilities.

The decision was primarily an economic one that involved the costs of raw materials, labor, market conditions, the cost efficiencies of electric furnaces versus blast furnaces, foreign steel imports, tariffs, and and available capacity at other AK facilities.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere ... are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE AT TRAMONTINA

Sugar Land, Texas-based Tramontina, an aluminum cookware manufacturer and subsidiary of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil-based company, has decided to cease manufacturing and assembly in the United States and consolidate production in the company’s 10 facilities in Brazil. The decision was driven by financial considerations and the rising cost of materials, labor, and transportation.

As a consequence of this decision, 108 employees assembly employees will be laid off in Sugar Land, Texas and is shuttering its manufacturing facility in Manitowoc, Wisconsin which will result in the loss of another 145 jobs. The layoffs in Wisconsin will begin around August 31, 2019 and those in Sugar Land beginning in September, 2019.

A company spokesman noted, “This is an extremely difficult announcement. Due to the production cost increases over several years, our shareholders decided to cease manufacturing operations at our U.S. facility as a strategic step towards consolidating our production within the group’s existing factories in Brazil, which allows us to focus more on product development, sales and logistics in the U.S.”

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

AM I NEXT? NO LOVE -- ELLETT BROTHERS CLOSING

Chapin, South Carolina-based United Sporting Companies, an 85-year-old distributor of firearms and outdoor sports equipment to smaller retailers, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware and has notified the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce that it will be permanently closing its 250,000 square-foot Ellett Brothers facility located in Chapin, South Carolina, laying off more than 170 workers by August, 2019. While the company will continue to exist, it will be significantly restructured into a smaller company. However, since the company has admitted

It appears that the proximate cause of the company’s collapse can be attributed to financial engineering, mismanagement, and a bloated gun inventory according to the allegation contained in a lawsuit where lender Prospect Capital is seeking more than $160 million which they appear to allege was diverted to interested parties and not used for the benefit of an ongoing business.

Other that Ellett, the company’s holding company, SportCo Holdings, also controls United Sporting Companies, Inc., and Ellett-owned companies including Simmons Gun Specialties, Evans Sports, Inc., Jerry’s Sports, Inc., Bonitz Brothers, Quality Boxes, and Outdoor Sports Headquarters, Inc. All are located in Chapin, South Carolina. Unfortunately, in a business failure of this size, the ripple effect can severely impact its creditors, some of whom might be struggling with their own marginal finances.

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life, or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?