Released on December 4, 2008

Griffin Pipe Products Co., Downers Grove, Ill., announced it will stop production at its ductile iron pipe casting plant in Florence, N.J., indefinitely beginning in the middle of February.

According to a company press release issued last month, the plant’s idling will be an extension of a previously scheduled two month layoff. Leadership from Griffin Pipe said “the dramatic impact that the housing market has had on the demand for ductile iron pipe” caused the production stoppage.

The company plans to continue operating the Florence plant as a distribution center and said it will assess the demands of the market in the future when conditions improve.

The Florence plant, which is located on 218 acres, supplies primarily the New England and Mid-Atlantic areas with ductile iron pressure pipe in 20-ft. lengths in diameters ranging from 6-24 in. The plant’s workforce is represented by the United Steelworkers.