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Insteel Industries Consolidates Northeast Facilities

Insteel Industries, Inc. is closing its facility in Wilmington, Del., and moving the manufacturing to its Hazleton, Pa., plant. The Hazleton plant was acquired in connection with Insteel's recent purchase of certain assets of Ivy Steel & Wire, Inc.  
 
The consolidation of plants is expected to result in the elimination of 49 positions at the Wilmington facility and the addition of 15 positions at the Hazleton plant. The company anticipates that operations at the Wilmington facility will cease by the end of March 2011 and the equipment will be redeployed to other Insteel locations.
 
These actions follow Insteel's previous announcement on December 8, 2010, that it would consolidate its Texas manufacturing activities at its Dayton plant and cease operations at its leased facility in Houston by the end of February 2011. The company does not anticipate any additional plant closings at this time.
 
"We believe the actions that we are taking to consolidate our Northeast manufacturing operations will enhance our competitive position by realigning our capacity and reducing operating costs in what continues to be a challenging market environment," said H.O. Woltz III, Insteel's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our decision was made only after thoroughly reviewing other alternatives, and we regret having to take these actions considering the contributions our Wilmington employees have made over the years."
  
Insteel is one of the nation's largest manufacturers of steel wire reinforcing products for concrete construction applications. The company manufactures and markets PC strand and welded wire reinforcement, including concrete pipe reinforcement, engineered structural mesh, and standard welded wire reinforcement. Its products are sold primarily to manufacturers of concrete products that are used in nonresidential construction. Headquartered in Mount Airy, N.C., Insteel currently operates 11 manufacturing facilities in the United States.