Noranda laying off 38 at Newport aluminum plant

Noranda on Monday said will lay off 38 employees at its Newport plant on or around December 3. Following the reduction, the facility will operate with 15 hourly and two salaried associates, compared to the workforce of 48 hourly and 7 salaried associates, according to John Parker, a company spokesman.

Parker said the layoffs are part of a companywide cost-cutting effort in response to aluminum prices, which are at their lowest levels since the global financial crisis.

Newport will continue to perform coating and slitting operations for coated finstock and container foil products. Although other production is being curtailed at Newport, the facility will retain the equipment capabilities to restart that production if demand warrants, Parker said.

Monday's layoff announcement comes about a year after the firm laid off 38 people in Newport.

In the third quarter ending September 30, Noranda reported a net loss of $175 million compared to a loss of $3.9 million in the same quarter last year. The company also reported a net loss per share of $17.49 compared to a loss per share of $0.40 the same quarter last year.

Newport is part of publicly traded Noranda’s Flat-Rolled Products business, which also includes aluminum rolling mill facilities in Huntingdon, Tennessee, and Salisbury, North Carolina.

The Newport facility is the smallest of the three, accounting for less than 5 percent of the rolled aluminum products sold by the company this year. By comparison, the Huntingdon facility accounts for nearly 80 percent of that volume, according to the company.