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IPSCO Halts Production at Iowa OCTG Mill

In a statement, the company stressed that it was idling the plant, not closing it entirely, on account of weak demand and competition from unfairly traded imports.

"Because of the prices of oil, the number of drill rigs are down dramatically ... and the result is the demand for pipe is down," spokesman Roger Bentley told the Quad-City Times newspaper. "We're idling the plant until conditions improve," he said.

According to IPSCO, the facility, which also makes industrial products and has threading capabilities, has a production capacity of 250,000 tons.

According to WARN Act notices filed with the state, IPSCO undertook two previous rounds of layoffs at the facility this year, letting go 88 in May and 80 in July.