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ATI won’t reopen Midland plant

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Allegheny Technologies Inc. won’t reopen its idled Midland plant, the specialty steelmaker announced Tuesday.

The Pittsburgh-based company confirmed the permanent closure of the Midland site, as well as the Gilpin Township plant, while also reporting that it lost $530.8 million in its third quarter.

“We have now concluded that these facilities cannot be operated at an acceptable rate of return,” the company said in a statement to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Earlier this year, Allegheny Technologies left open the possibility that Midland plant might reopen. Some 250 workers made stainless steel at the Beaver County site.

The Midland plant had operated during the lockout, staffed with management and temporary employees, before it was idled in January.

The company announced plans to temporarily idle the plants even before it reached a new four-year contract in February. The contract covered some 2,200 workers who had been locked out for more than six months at 12 plants in Pennsylvania and five other states.

About 360 people worked at the Bagdad works in Gilpin Township, located in Armstrong County, 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, making electrical steel. The Gilpin Township plant also operated during the lockout, but it was idled before the new contract was announced.

ATI cited increased foreign competition for certain kinds of specialty steel and declining markets in idling the plants, but before Tuesday had said both might reopen if the company could figure out a way to make them profitable.

The company’s third quarter losses amounted to $4.95 per share, but were 21 cents per share when adjusted for restructuring costs and pretax expenses. That still did not meet Wall Street expectations, where seven analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected ATI to report an adjusted loss of 11 cents per share. The company’s third-quarter revenues of $770.5 million were also less than the $839.3 million forecast by four analysts surveyed by Zacks.

Still, Allegheny Technologies shares have risen 58 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has climbed slightly more than 5 percent. The stock has risen 26 percent in the last 12 months.

Shares were trading at $15.75 at midday, down $2.06.

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