Contract Ratification Clears Way for Timken Investment at Faircrest
02/23/2012 - After securing a new five-year labor agreement, Timken officials announced that they plan to move forward with a $225 million investment at the Faircrest Steel Plant in Stark County, Ohio.
After securing a new five-year labor agreement, officials at The Timken Co. announced that they plan to move forward with a $225 million investment at the Faircrest Steel Plant in Stark County, Ohio. With this investment, the company aims to improve productivity, expand its product range, and increase capacity to serve growing demand for Timken® specialty alloy steel bars.
The ratification of a new extended labor agreement between Timken and members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 1123 establishes workforce stability through project construction and startup in 2014. The labor agreement covers four facilities in Stark County through September 2017 and replaces an agreement that would have expired during the project's startup in 2013.
A new ladle refiner and large-bloom continuous caster are central to the productivity gains from the investment. The new equipment also is expected to increase the Faircrest operation's shippable capacity by 25% and enable the production of a broader range of large-diameter bars.
Salvatore J. Miraglia Jr., Timken President – Steel, said, "We've received great support for our steel expansion from state and local officials and suppliers, and now our employees have put the last element in place to make this project a go."
"We are seeing growing demand for Timken specialty steel to support the most demanding energy and industrial applications," said Miraglia. "This is the right time to make the kind of investment that will improve our operating performance while also expanding our capacity and size range for these products. Combined, that will strengthen our ability to serve these important industries and position the business for continued profitable growth and greater shareholder value."
This investment is the company’s largest since opening the plant in 1985.
The Timken Co. is a specialty alloy steel manufacturer that supplies innovative friction management and power transmission products and services that allow machinery to perform more efficiently and reliably. The company had sales of $5.2 billion in 2011 and has 21,000 people operating from locations in 30 countries. In 2011, the Timken steel segment melted 1.7 million tons of raw materials to generate $2 billion of sales of its custom-designed steel.
To further productivity and growth, the company invested more than $200 million in its steel operations in northeast Ohio in the last five years. The most recent of those investments included a $35 million high-volume in-line forge press at the Faircrest rolling mill, which is under construction, and $50 million in capital improvements at its Harrison and Gambrinus steel plants.
