Altra speaks out about plant closure
CLOVERDALE -- As was reported in last Thursday's Banner Graphic, Altra Biofuels in Cloverdale laid off the majority of its workforce indefinitely.
On Tuesday, the company released its official statement regarding the layoffs in both Cloverdale and in Coshocton, Ohio.
Regarding the Cloverdale closure, the release read, "Due to the poor margin environment, we have made the decision to stop producing ethanol at our Cloverdale facility. We have and will continue to monitor the margin environment on a daily basis and will assess a restart of the plant as soon as margins improve. In the interim, we regret that we needed to implement a partial layoff to conserve cash, which is critical in this adverse capital market environment."
On the other hand, the news about the Coshocton facility, while still troubling for that plant, was more concrete about the possibility of reopening. The Coshocton employees are considered by the company to be on "temporary furlough."
It goes on to say, regarding Coshocton, "We estimate that the furlough period will be of a short duration depending on market conditions and other factors. We intend to resume production in January at which time the bulk of the employees will be called back."
The Cloverdale layoffs were originally reported by one of the affected employees. At that time, company representative Jeff Gilbert was contacted, but had no public comment regarding the shutdown.