Plastic plant to close leaving 44 out of work

Tag : foam plastics
Thana Dharmarajah

GUELPH
Foseco Canada Inc. is shutting down its Guelph manufacturing siteand warehousing operation, leaving 44 people jobless.
The plant produces a strong plastic useful for manufacturingmaterial.
Company president Richard Dumoulin said the employees were told ata meeting yesterday that the administrative offices on theSpeedvale Avenue West site will cease operations Oct. 31 and thewarehouse will close Dec. 31.
Of the 44 employees affected, 29 are unionized labourers in theplant and 15 are salaried employees.
Half of the salaried employees work in the plant and the othershave administrative positions.
Dumoulin said 13 sales and marketing positions within the companywill remain and they will work from their homes.
He said the closure is due to a sharp decline in the market forlost foam casting in the last two to three years, resulting in aloss of revenue for the company.
Lost foam casting is a type of metal casting process that usesexpandable foam patterns to produce castings.
Foseco produces polystyrene patterns, sold to foundries thatconvert them to metal castings, which are then used in automotiveparts, recreational watercraft and transport trucks.
"All these industries have declined or started to shrink," Dumoulinsaid, adding Foseco is impacted by the difficulties facing theautomotive industry, since it primarily feeds parts to the NorthAmerican automotive manufacturers.
"The decision to close the Guelph site was a difficult one," saidNancy Valent, a company spokesperson.
The employees will be provided equitable severance packages andrelocation counselling.
Vesuvius, Foseco's parent company, has a Canadian site in Welland,Dumoulin said, adding it's expected that Guelph's warehousingoperations can be transferred to the Welland site.
Foseco Canada Inc. has been in Guelph since 1952 and operated onthe Speedvale site for nearly 30 years. Before that, it was locatedon Alice Street.
tdharmarajah@guelphmercury.com