Hamilton Spectator reported that another round of layoffs has hit National Steel Car. In the latest downsizing, 300 notices have been issued to workers as one of the rail car maker's production lines goes down. The latest cuts, in addition to the 150 who have been idled since June, mean 450 of Steel Car's 2,400 workers are furloughed.

Hal Bruckner, the company's vice-president for human resources, said slipping demand is behind the move. He said “We've had to lay off some people until the order book picks up again. Right now the order book is down, so one of our production lines is going down. Right now the orders for pellet cars have just dried up. We're hoping for some improvement in the order book in the fall, but right now there has definitely been some slowing of demand.

He added "We are trying to measure if this is just a pause in demand or something more. Hopefully this all goes in a positive way and this is just a short downturn."

The new layoff follows a familiar pattern for National Steel Car — a hiring boost is followed by the end of a production order and a large layoff until the next order is obtained.

-The 18th Guangzhou Die-casting, Foundry & Industry Furnace Exhibition