Astec IndustriesThe drop in oil prices is taking its toll on a an East Tennessee plant that produces drilling equipment.
Despite higher sales and profits at most of its company lines, Astec Industries said today that it will close its facility in Loudon, Tenn., this spring and consolidate all of its GEFCO operations in Enid, Okla., due to the decline in oil exploration activity.
“Orders so far in 2015 have been steady with the exception of products targeted at the oil exploration industry due to the well-publicized decrease in the price of oil,” Astec CEO Ben Brock said in a statement this morning. “As a result we have made the difficult decision to consolidate all GEFCO operations in Enid, Okla., and to close our Loudon, Tenn., effective May 31.
GEFCO is a world leader in the design and manufacture of portable drilling rigs and related equipment for the water well, environmental, groundwater monitoring, construction, mining and shallow oil and gas exploration and production industries.
Despite the drop in GEFCO orders, Astec overall boosted its boosted its fourth quarter earnings by 2.4 percent from a year ago on stronger sales.