OmniSource, a scrap metal processor and subsidiary of Steel Dynamics, has permanently cut 209 jobs of which 135 are based in the Fort Wayne, Indiana area.
Mark Millett, OmniSource’s president and chief operating officer, said that after conducting an efficiency review of the company’s processes, the firm’s administration found out that work is being done more efficiently in fewer steps and that less employees were needed to run the facility, even at full capacity rates. “Most of these positions will not return once the economy improves,” he explained. “We see the volumes (of business) returning,” he said, “but we anticipate a more competitive marketplace,” he added.
In 2007, Fort Wayne-headquartered Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) bought OmniSource from the Rifkin family for $1 billion. The firm employs about 2,600 companywide, including almost 2,000 in Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.
In April, SDI reported a first-quarter loss of $88 million on net sales of $815 million. In Q1 of 2008, the steelmaker posted earnings of $143 million on net sales of $1.9 billion.