Franklin-based manufacturer laying off more than 300

Metals firm expects to save $23M a year

Email | Print By Geert De Lombaerde

Noranda Aluminum is cutting 338 full-time and contract jobs at its network of plants to save cash.

Franklin-based Noranda, which earlier this year filed papers to go public, expects to save $23 million a year as a result of the layoffs. The cuts amount to about 11 percent of the company's work force and will be completed by the end of the first quarter. The move will result in a one-time charge of between $7 million and $12 million.

The cuts affect 96 workers at the company's rolling mills in Huntingdon west of Nashville; Newport, Ark.; and Salisbury, N.C. Earlier this year, the company said those plants employed about 700 people.

"Current economic conditions require that we take accelerated actions to reduce our costs, improve our productivity and conserve our liquidity," said President and CEO Layle “Kip” Smith.

Noranda lost $1.7 million on sales of $1.0 billion in the first nine months of the year. At the end of September, it had $245 million in cash on hand and more than $1.4 billion in long-term liabilities.