Ohio-based Columbus Steel Castings Co. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after halting steel foundry operations on May 9.
Attorneys for the company—which manufactures steel castings freight and passenger railcars, locomotives, mining equipment and construction equipment—blamed the factory's financial troubles on a broken furnace that halted shipments for six weeks last year. The breakdown cost about $15 million, according to documents filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.
Attorneys also said a potential buyer for the company's 90-acre operations in Columbus, Ohio has been found, but the buyer’s identity and value of its offer were not disclosed. It is unclear if the buyer will restart operations and rehire the 742 workers employed before the breakdown.
Along with Columbus Steel Castings, three other metal manufacturers owned by parent company Constellation Enterprises LLC, filed for bankruptcy (along with Constellation): Zero Manufacturing Inc., Jorgenson Forge Corp. and the operator of Commercial Metal Forming. Collectively, the companies face $238 million in debt.