Ulefos Jernværk, Norway’s oldest surviving industrial company, will end foundry production at Ulefoss after 369 years, affecting 114 jobs. The owners have decided to gradually close the plant in Telemark within three years and transfer production to Stange, where around 30 new positions are expected to be created. E24 reported that employees were informed of the final decision on Tuesday, 15 September.
Founded in 1657, Ulefos Jernværk is commonly described as Norway’s oldest industrial company still in operation. Its foundry produces cast-iron products including manhole covers and other equipment used in water, sewerage and street infrastructure.
Ulefos Jernværk production moves to Stange
The board of CK Partners, which controls the foundry operations, decided to concentrate Norwegian production at the Furnes foundry in Stange.
“We have considered all realistic alternatives. The board’s conclusion is that production must be consolidated in Stange to ensure a competitive foundry operation in Norway for the Nordic market,” CK Partners chair Morten Sæderup Nielsen said in a statement quoted by E24.
The closure will take place gradually over the next three years. According to Dagens Næringsliv, the company expects the expanded Stange operation to require about 30 additional employees.
The Ulefos brand will continue, while other parts of the group’s business are not included in the closure.
Demand has fallen by around 30%
The company says the market for its products has contracted by around 30% over the past two to three years, while competition from lower-cost producers in countries including China, India and Turkey has intensified.
CK Production has also pointed to overcapacity in the European foundry industry and weak demand linked to the construction sector. CK Production CEO Martin Sagen said the financial situation at Ulefoss was no longer sustainable after profitability had been under pressure for several years.
The difficulties extend beyond Norway. Dagens Næringsliv reported that more than 100 European foundries have closed in recent years amid weaker demand and international competition.
The European Union has sought to protect parts of its foundry industry through anti-dumping measures. The European Commission’s current trade defence measures cover certain cast-iron products imported from China, while an EU regulation renewed in 2024 applies duties ranging from 15.5% to 38.1%. Norway is outside the EU customs union and does not automatically apply those measures.
114 jobs disappear from Ulefoss
The closure will eliminate 114 positions at the Ulefoss plant. Employees and union representatives had argued for retaining production at both Ulefoss and Stange and criticised the final decision.
Union representative Willy Dorholt told Dagens Næringsliv that workers were “very disappointed and distressed”, arguing that the plant had survived wars, economic downturns and other crises during its nearly four centuries of operation.
The impact is expected to extend beyond the factory itself. Ulefos Jernværk has been a major private employer in Nome municipality, and its activity also supports transport companies, suppliers and other local services.
Co-owners Johan D. Cappelen and Carl D. Cappelen described the decision as a difficult one for employees, families and a community closely connected to the foundry for generations. The owners said they would begin examining possible future uses for the industrial site as production is transferred.
The closure therefore marks more than a corporate restructuring. It ends almost four centuries of continuous foundry production at Ulefoss while illustrating the pressures facing parts of Europe’s traditional manufacturing sector as weaker demand, industrial overcapacity and competition from lower-cost producers reshape production across the continent.
