Ormet Corp. has issued notices that the workforce will be reduced at the company's Monroe County facility.

Chief Executive Officer Mike Tanchuk said that the Hannibal plant will be the only facility owned by Ormet that will be affected.

"The only decision that has been made. We've decided to shut down one of our six potlines at the Hannibal operation. That will affect 30-50 people sometime in mid-September," Tanchuk said.

Last week, every employee at the plant received a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) notice alerting them to possible layoffs.

"They need to understand that … (the) performance of the plant is excellent. Our job is now to turn this around so this is a short layoff for them," Tanchuk said.

He said the world market has played a role because the aluminum that the company makes is traded in the London Metal Exchange.

But he said the biggest problem is the cost of electricity.

"We've seen major increases in power rates in Ohio over the last four to five years and our business is so sensitive to that that we've got to address that going forward," Tanchuk said.

He said the company is working with American Electric Power and is hopeful they will lower the company's rates, but he is ready for whatever happens.

NEWS9 reached out to the union that represents some of the employees that received notices, the President for USW local union 5724 Tom Byers says, "Everyone is concerned there is always concern. All union employees can do is continue to work hard to maintain operations during this difficult time."

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