Timken Co. to sell seamless tube plant in UK

Ohio-based specialty steelmaker Timken Company announced Thursday it plans to sell its seamless steel tube manufacturing plant in the English Midlands because it is no longer profitable. The plant, located in Desford, England, near Leicester, supplies seamless steel tube for machining and mechanical applications, primarily serving the auto bearings industry in Europe. The company says it wants to sell some of the plant's assets and to find an alternative source of steel tube for its European bearing operations. “The proposed action is part of the company's strategy to focus on lines of business that produce differentiated products while driving profitable growth," said Salvatore J. Miraglia, Jr., president of Timken's Steel Group. "Exiting this business would further advance the focus of the Steel Group on differentiated products that deliver value to both customers and shareholders." Timken's other UK operations consist of a rail bearings factory in Northampton, an aerospace components plant in Wolverhampton, and other facilities in Coventry and Sheffield.