Pace closes Harrison die casting plant, removing source of casting capacity and scrap

Speaking at a City Council meeting the day after receiving the letter, Jackson said the city also received inquiries from private parties seeking information about the building and its equipment.

Jackson said he encouraged Pace representative to communicate with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission in case a new operator could use the facility.

Arkansas Workforce Connections confirmed it could not release details from the WARN filing due to state confidentiality requirements. Pace Industries did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Aluminum and zinc die casting operation

Environmental filings show the Harrison site operates as a high-pressure die casting facility producing aluminum and zinc components for multiple industrial sectors.

According to the facility’s active air permit, the operation melts aluminum in eight natural gas-fired reverberatory central furnaces before transferring molten metal to holding furnaces for casting. Molten aluminum and zinc are injected into water-cooled dies, then trimmed and finished through shot blasting, sanding and machining operations.

Finished castings undergo polishing and finishing processes that include robotic sanding equipment and dust collection systems designed to control particulate matter.

The facility also conducts secondary operations including heat treatment, assembly and finishing work before shipping components to customers.

Company descriptions indicate the plant supplied automotive, industrial equipment, engine and lighting markets. Additional services include painting and in-house assembly. The operation also held an International Automotive Task Force (IATF) 16949 certification, a quality management standard used in automotive supply chains.

Production capacity and melt infrastructure

Permit filings show the Harrison facility had eight central melt furnaces with individual capacities ranging from 2,000 pounds per hour (lbs/hr) to 8,000lbs/hr.

These furnaces include two 8,000lbs/hr furnaces, two 7,000lbs/hr furnaces, two 4,000lbs/hr furnaces, and two 2,000lbs/hr furnaces.

The facility’s maximum aluminum melt rate is pegged at roughly 175,000 tons per year.

Molten metal was transferred to dozens of holding furnaces that maintained aluminum and zinc in liquid form prior to casting. The plant also operated multiple baghouse filtration systems supporting shot blasting and polishing operations.

The permit specifies that melt furnaces were to be charged with clean aluminum ingots, billets or internally recycled scrap.

Scrap flows and metal recovery

Internal trim scrap generated during casting operations was remelted in the central furnaces as part of the facility’s closed-loop process.

Environmental filings indicate the plant sent certain metal-bearing wastes to recycling operations in the Midwest for recovery. However, those disclosures do not capture aluminum scrap flows, making it difficult to determine how much aluminum scrap was sold externally rather than reused internally.

Die casting operations, particularly those serving the automotive sector and producing A380.1 alloy components, typically generate aluminum turnings, including A380 turnings and secondary alloy turnings, as well as dross and related aluminum-bearing residues.

These materials are commonly used as feedstock by secondary alloy operations that produce aluminum deoxidizer, widely used in the steel industry, along with other metallurgical products.

Available environmental and regulatory records suggest shipments from the Harrison facility became more concentrated for a smaller group of downstream processing operations over time. Earlier records suggest the plant historically distributed metal-bearing residues to a broader network of recycling operations across several states.

Many of those processors were located near major aluminum facilities or specialized in dross recycling and aluminum deoxidizer production, reflecting a common industry practice in which die casting residues are supplied to processors that recover metal or convert the material into metallurgical additives.

For example, A380 turnings are commonly used by deoxidizer producers alongside, and in some cases as a substitute for, 2XXX- and 7XXX-series aerospace alloy turnings and 6XXX-series turnings.

Over the past decade, that network appears to have narrowed as consolidation within the recycling sector reduced the number of downstream processors handling material from the plant. More recent records indicate shipments were directed primarily to a smaller group of Midwestern recycling operations. One of those facilities corresponds with a secondary aluminum operation that became affiliated with Pace following the company’s 2020 restructuring.

The closure may also reduce the volume of internally generated scrap available to affiliated recycling operations, potentially requiring Pace facilities to source additional material to offset the loss.

The “other” Harrison facility

Over time, changes in how those materials were handled may also have been influenced by operational changes in the area.

A nearby Harrison property previously associated with Pace, located at 312 N Industrial Park Road, was described by a city official as “closed and sold more than two years ago.” Moreover, the Harrison Chamber of Commerce lists the site as occupied by another company, though Pace’s website still includes the location among its facilities on its website.

Otherwise, the nature of Pace’s current relationship to the property, including whether it retains ownership or leases the site, could not be confirmed. Quality management certification issued May 2021 listed the property as a warehouse.

Without that location, the plant may have had less nearby capacity to stage scrap material, potentially increasing reliance on shipments to external recycling operations.

As a result, the closure could reduce the volume of die casting residues entering secondary processing streams that supply aluminum deoxidizer and other metallurgical products.

Company history

Pace Industries traces its origins to Harrison.

According to the company’s website, the firm was founded in 1970 with a small die casting facility in the city before expanding into a multi-plant supplier across North America.

The company describes itself as the largest independent die casting manufacturer in the region, producing aluminum, magnesium and zinc castings for automotive, commercial vehicle, appliance, lighting and other industrial markets.

Today, Pace operates facilities across the US and Mexico, including sites in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Chihuahua and Coahuila in Mexico.