Weak tubing demand leads Timken to close plant

Weak tubing demand leads Timken to close plant

Due to decreased demand for steel tubing, The Timken Company will close its Wooster Township tube plant in Ohio and merge its operations with the company’s Gambrinus plant in Stark County, Ohio. The Wooster township plant had at one time employed hundreds of workers, but in recent years the plant has scaled back operations, limiting plant activity to finishing and inspecting steel tube manufactured at Gambrinus. Timken spokesperson Jeff Daffler said that while some of the six Wooster managers may lose their jobs, all of the 36 hourly workers at Wooster will be offered jobs at Gambrinus. No Gambrinus employees will be replaced. He attributed the consolidation to changing market conditions and said that while the demand for steel bar is at record levels, “The demand for steel tubing has decreased.” Stan Jasionowski, president of United Steelworkers of America Local 1123, which covers Timken employees at Wooster, Gambrinus, as well as two other plants in Stark County, said of Wooster employees, “Most of those people are already over here at Gambrinus.” He estimated at least 80 employees had already transferred. The Timken Company has a diverse range of products, including bearings, alloy steels, and related products. Timken’s tubing is used primarily by the oil drilling industry, and its steel bar is used by tool makers.