Mikron Industries Inc., a manufacturer of vinyl and composite window and door components and portfolio brands, will close its Richmond, Ky., plant and lay off 140 in phases starting June 7.
Almost all positions will be impacted, according to an April 8 company letter sent to the Kentucky Career Center in accordance with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
The plant at 100 Mikron Way is scheduled to close on or near Aug. 6.
"It is expected that the planned plant closing and resulting terminations of employment will be permanent," the notice says, adding that no union is involved, and no bumping rights exist.
The layoffs will affect about 65 extruder operators, 16 maintenance technicians, 13 material handlers, and five each in the compounding, recycling and tooling departments among others.
Kent, Wash.-based Mikron, which operates the facility, is a portfolio brand of Houston-based Quanex Building Products Corp., a publicly traded manufacturer serving the window, door, vinyl fencing, solar, refrigeration, custom mixing and cabinetry markets.
Quanex President and CEO George Wilson said in a March earnings call that the parent company is feeling soft market volume and some pricing pressures.
Quanex sales were down 8.7 percent to $239.2 million for the quarter ending Jan. 31, 2024, compared to the prior year. The company saw a 3.3 percent decline in its fenestration segment and a 21.1 percent drop in North American cabinet sales.
"As mentioned on our December call, we entered this year with a somewhat cautious outlook for the first half due to the ongoing macroeconomic challenges, but we remain optimistic that demand for our products will improve in the second half as consumer confidence is restored over time," Wilson said.
"While the near-term outlook for our business remains somewhat cautious, our long-term view has not changed, and we believe the underlying fundamentals for the residential housing market remain positive."
Quanex acquired Mikron Industries for $205 million cash in 2004.
At the time, Mikron generated sales of about $215 million from facilities in the Kent area and Winnebago, Ill., in addition to Richmond.
Quanex has an annual sales of about $340 million and ranks No. 20 among North American pipe, profile and tubing extruders, according to Plastics News' latest ranking.
The company says it is the largest domestic manufacturer and supplier of components to window and cabinet OEMs with vinyl extrusions going to the top five manufacturers.
Quanex also has a significant amount of existing manufacturing capacity that is underutilized, according to its last investor presentation.