GAF plant to reopen shingle lines

Tag : Asphalt plant mobile

GAF Materials Corp. will reopen its two shingle lines at itsmidtown Mobile plant, creating roughly 60 jobs.
The company had closed the shingle lines last year, saying it waslaying off 97 employees. The company kept open the part of theplant that makes roofing paper and felt, preserving 70 jobs. Butofficials said at the time that the shingle lines at the plant,opened by Ruberoid Corp. in 1949, were out of date. Production wasto be shifted to facilities in Tuscaloosa and Savannah, Ga.
Roger Assad, legal vice president for the company based in Wayne,N.J., said Friday that despite a housing market that remains in ahistoric slump, the company is seeing higher de mand for asphaltshingles. That's because about 80 percent of its sales go tore-roof existing houses.
"Even in down economic times, people are going to invest in theirhouses," Assad said. "When you need a new roof, you need a newroof."
GAF, the nation's largest asphalt shingle maker, sells its productsunder Timberline, Sovereign and other brands. Home Depot is one itslargest customers.
Assad said he wasn't sure whether old workers would be called back.Some laid-off workers at the plant were represented by the UnitedSteel Workers, and under some contracts, unionized workers maintainrights to be recalled after layoffs.
"Certainly we had some dedicated employees there," Assad said.
The plant, mostly surrounded by houses, sits near the corner ofFlorida and Emogene streets. It has been a target of somecriticism, mainly because it releases a strong asphalt smell whenoperating.
The plant was targeted for cuts in the wake of GAF's nearly $1billion purchase of competitor Elk Corp. In its 2007 annual report,GAF listed 31 plants, of which 16 made asphalt shingles. In thatreport, the company listed seven facilities, including Mobile, thatit had closed or curtailed, and said it planned to close two morein 2008, "primarily due to the increased capacity provided by themanufacturing facilities acquired from Elk."
Last year, the combined GAF and Elk had sales of $2.39 billion andlost $160 million. GAF is almost entirely owned by Samuel Heyman.