Revere Copper Products, which was founded by Paul Revere in 1801, announced that it is closing its New Bedford, Mass., copper plant within the next six months. The company cited foreign competition and high energy costs as the reason for the closing.
The company attributed the decision to close to losses the plant has taken over the past several years.
The mill presently employs 85 people. At its peak the company employed 1,200 people.
The New Bedford mill has energy costs that are almost twice the national average. Further, the company noted that competition from outside the United States have added to the problems. For example, German mills, producing the same copper product, have a Value Added Tax of 19 percent placed on all goods and services sold in Germany, including imports. This tax is used to pay for employee health care. At the same time, if those good sand services are exported from Germany, the 19 percent tax is rebated.
Revere will not be relocating the facility, and plans to sell the equipment once production ends.
The mill was founded in 1862, and makes products for oil refineries, chemical plants, nuclear facilities, shipbuilding and desalination plants.
Over the next six months, the New Bedford plant will fill existing orders and take new ones until it uses up its existing metal inventories. The company’s remaining plant in Rome, N.Y., will continue its operations. The profitable Rome plant, which produces different copper products, is also "under attack by foreign competition, but the attack is not as strong" as in New Bedford, O’Shaughnessy said.