Furon’s Oklahoma Plant to Be Closed for Lack of Buyers

Unable to sell its Oklahoma division, Furon Co. said Wednesday that it has notified workers in Tulsa that it will close the plant.

Furon said in a prepared statement that its FO-MAC Division, which molds and bonds rubber for various industrial markets, has faced declining demand for its products. The division is one of six that Furon put on the market last year in a restructuring prompted by its first loss--a $22-million shortfall for 1991. Two units were sold last year, helping Furon return to profitability.

All attempts to sell FO-MAC were unsuccessful, Furon said, so executives decided to close it. The company did not say in its statement how many employees are affected or when the plant will be closed. Three other divisions are yet to be sold or closed.

Executives at Furon and FO-MAC could not be reached for comment Wednesday. Roger Pondel, a spokesman for the company from the public relations firm of Rifkin, Pondel & Parsons in Los Angeles, also couldn’t be reached.

Furon, based in Laguna Niguel, has about 2,300 workers, fewer than 100 of whom are at the Tulsa plant, said a Rifkin, Pondel employee.

Furon said that it told FO-MAC employees on March 24 about the shutdown.

In Wednesday’s trading on the NASDAQ market, Furon’s stock fell 25 cents a share to close at $16.25.