GE unveils $60M investment at Lufkin foundry

LUFKIN, ANGELINA COUNTY – General Electric (GE) will invest $60 million to expand operations at its Oil and Gas Foundry, which was once Lufkin Industries.

GE plans to demolish 30,000 sf of its existing 515,000-sf facility south of downtown Lufkin and build 72,000 sf of new buildings.

In addition, remaining facilities at the foundry will be refurbished. The foundry produces iron castings used to make pumping units and power transmission equipment.

Completion of the first phase of construction is expected by the end of 2016 with an electric arc furnace replacing a cupola, the current blast furnace.

When buildout is complete by 2018 or 2019, the plant will have the capability of increasing its product output by 30 percent, contingent upon market demand.

The foundry produces an estimated 72,000 tons of products each year. Approximately 87 percent of the foundry’s products are used to supply GE’s own Lufkin factories while the remainder is sold externally to other customers.

The Lufkin City Council approved a ten-year tax abatement for GE’s projected additional value of $36 million and a $4.5 million storm water rerouting project.

GE employs 1,700 in Lufkin, 300 of which are foundry workers. GE purchased Lufkin Industries for approximately $3.3 billion in April 2013. Globally, the company has invested more than $85 million in the foundry since the acquisition.

Read more at the Lufkin Daily News and KTRE-TV.