Noranda plant in Huntingdon included in potential sale

HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — It was business as usual Friday at the Noranda Aluminum plant in Huntingdon, but it could have a new owner.

After filing bankruptcy in February, the company completed an auction Friday morning that included the sale of the Huntingdon plant.

The city said the sale of the plant is a good step forward.

“It’s very important to our community for us to salvage those 400-plus jobs and to move forward, and hopefully in the future there will be some expansion to come about,” Huntingdon Mayor Dale Kelley said.

Noranda expanded their Huntingdon plant in 1998, a decision the company cited as why they were able to find a deal.

“We wouldn’t have the ability to get the value that we have for this business if it weren’t for the hard work over a long period of time of people there in Huntingdon at the Huntingdon plant,” Noranda’s Vice President of Communications and Investors John Parker said over the phone. “I think they should feel good about where they are with this.”

The company called Huntingdon the biggest piece of the deal that’s been set in place, which is why Carroll County leaders said the plant that’s been employing its residents since 1968 will be there to play a part in their future.

“We’re very confident that our new ownership will find this to be a place in which they are glad they’re here and that they will be with us for many, many years,” Mayor Kelley said.

City officials said a Swedish company involved in innovative aluminum engineering won the auction.

The sale will return to court next Thursday where it could be approved and the final closing dates should be set in place.