London Accuride plant for sale, may close if buyer not found: Company

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After 56 years of making steel wheels, London’s Accuride plant is on the block and may shut down as its parent company is facing bankruptcy, the company said Tuesday.

The plant on Firestone Boulevard is for sale and may close if a buyer can’t be found, Accuride spokesperson Grant Hatton said.

The plant that opened in 1968 employs more than 200 workers.

Accuride is restructuring its North American business and filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy code and in Canada is reorganizing under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act or CCAA.

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Accuride will receive $30 million from lenders to keep it running for about the next three months.

“If we cannot fund a buyer (for the London plant), a wind down is an option, unfortunately,” Hatton said. “But we are actively seeking a buyer and it still makes a great product. It will be a good acquisition for someone.”

Accuride in London makes steel wheels for heavy and medium-duty commercial trucks. It sells about 75 per cent of its production to GM.  

There has been a “softening market” for Accuride’s product and supply chain issues have lingered since the pandemic leading to rising costs,  Hatton said.

“The demand has dropped for our products in North America,” he said.

The threat the plant could close is top of mind for Unifor Local 27 that is scheduled to enter into talks on a new collective agreement in the summer of 2025, said Luis Domingues, national representative for Unifor in London.

“First and foremost we want to protect our members, their benefits and pensions. We want to participate so we can see the business thrive for another 50 years,” he said.

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“We hope they find a buyer. It has always been a good-paying job, a good pension. It put food on the table for a lot of families.”

A statement from the company said the filings will allow it to operate “business as usual” and it “will be able to emerge from bankruptcy on an expedited basis, anticipated to be 90 to100 days from filing, with a confirmed plan of reorganization.”

There are about 180 unionized employees at Accuride and 38 salaried employees.

Accuride’s Mexican, European and Asian subsidiaries are not included in the filings.

In 2022 unionized workers at Accuride signed a three-year deal that gave them a 10 per cent wage increase over three years as well as a $1,250 signing bonus. 

The 44,600-square-metre (480,000-square-foot) plant is on 26 hectares of land. Accuride sold its land and building in London in 2021 for $16.5 million, and continues to lease it. 

ndebono@postmedia.com

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