PITTSBURGH (AP) — Allegheny Technologies Inc. won't reopen two western Pennsylvania plants that were idled earlier this year, the specialty steelmaker announced Tuesday.
The Pittsburgh-based company confirmed the permanent closures while also reporting that it lost $530.8 million in its third quarter.
Earlier this year, Allegheny Technologies left open the possibility that the plants in Midland, Beaver County, and Gilpin Township, Armstrong County, might reopen.
About 360 people worked at the Bagdad works in Gilpin, 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, making electrical steel. Some 250 workers made stainless steel at the Midland plant, about 35 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
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.
The Midland plant had operated during the lockout, staffed with management and temporary employees, before it was idled in January. 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.