Domestic scrap markets have taken another hit with the shutting down of the operations of Wheland Foundry LLC, Chattanooga, Tenn, by its parent company North American Royalties Inc.
Wheland filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November of 2001, and has thus far has had no success in securing a deal that would keep its operations going. Wheland vice president for human resources Wayne Tamme informed media outlets in Chattanooga in early February that the company would be shutting down all of its facilities in Tennessee and Georgia and eliminating more than 1,100 jobs.
The company’s foundries specialize in the making of brake components for the automotive industry and include two gray iron foundries and two ductile iron foundries.
A potential buyer for one of the facilities has stepped forward, but that buyer—Hayes Lemmerz Industries of Northville, Mich.—is also currently operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Hayes Lemmerz is interested in Wheland’s centrifugal cast iron foundry in Chattanooga, a smaller plant employing 75 people.
Wheland has for years been considered one of America’s largest foundry companies, with roots going back to 1866. The company’s facilities have a combined melting capacity of 190 tons per hour, and the company boasts that nearly half of all cars assembled in the U.S. contain one or more Wheland components.
Although melting is winding down at all of the plants, company and union officials are hopeful that the plants will not be in mothballs for long. A North American Royalties spokesperson has told the Oak Ridger (Tenn.) newspaper, “There is still remaining interest in the other facilities. We don’t have any firm offers on the table, but we continue to have prospects looking at our plants.”