Wheatland Tube Co. said Thursday that a deal reached with another company to buy the assets of its mechanical tube plant means the loss of all 115 jobs at its mill on Clinton Street in Wheatland.

A letter of intent was signed for another company to buy the plant's equipment, said Bill Kerins, vice president of Wheatland Tube. He declined to identify the company.

"It's not being sold as an ongoing business. They are buying it not to operate it,'' Kerins said. "They're buying it due to overcapacity in that market. There's no need to operate the equipment.''

He didn't know if the company would sell or scrap the equipment.

Currently, the mechanical tube market's annual production capacity is 750,000 tons. The annual sales volume is 400,000 tons.

"That shows you right then and there, there's a problem with overcapacity. There isn't a market,'' Kerins said.

Wheatland Tube's owner, Collingswood, N.J.-based John Maneely Co., bought the 300,000-square-foot-plus plant in April from AK Steel Corp., which owned Sawhill Tubular Division. The mill employs 115 hourly and salaried workers.

On Feb. 27 Wheatland Tube said that unless a buyer was found for the mechanical tube plant, it would be closed in two months due to mounting losses.

At first the company thought it had a buyer that was interested in purchasing the plant as an ongoing business. But that buyer canceled a planned meeting with union leaders and eventually backed out of any deal.

United Steelworkers Local 1016-07 represents 100 production and maintenance workers at the plant. Operating under a separate labor contract, those workers do not have seniority rights over other Wheatland Tube employees for jobs at its other plants, Kerins said.

"But we'll help them in any way we can,'' he added.

While workers have transfer rights for potential future job openings at Wheatland Tube's Sharon plant, it's not much solace, said Tom Maykowski, unit president for Local 1016-07.

"This is very unexpected,'' Maykowski said. "We thought we had someone who was looking to buy the place and run it. It came as quite a surprise.''

About 20 union members will be eligible for retirement. The remainder, like Maykowski, will be seeking work elsewhere.

United Steelworkers is trying to secure federal retraining benefits, which would pick up much of the tab for workers opting to go back to school. But this still comes as a harsh blow to workers with families, Maykowski noted.

"We have a lot of guys disenchanted by this,'' he said. "You can't blame them.''

Although he broached the subject with workers about their looking at buying the plant themselves, he doubted it would go anywhere since Wheatland Tube has a signed letter of intent with a buyer.

This latest deal is expected to be completed in May, with May 7 expected to be the last day of operations at the plant. Talks are continuing with the purchaser on whether the building will be part of the deal. Regardless, the plant's days as an operating pipe and tube mill are over, Kerins said.

"This decision has caused a lot of sleepless nights,'' he said. "This is people's lives. It's something that's never happened to Wheatland (Tube) in the past.''

Mainly producing mechanical tubing from a half-inch to 5 inches in diameter, the plant's products are frequently used in the automotive industry for such items as tire rods and bushings and in manufacturing for such things as conveyers and motor housings.

Pipe and tube makers have been struggling in the worst market in more than 20 years due to a sluggish economy. Wheatland Tube has 26 laid off at its other Wheatland plant, 20 at its Sharon plant and another 32 at its Warren, Ohio, mill.

Wheatland Tube's remaining product lines rely on industrial and nonresidential construction, which also have been in the doldrums.

"It's extremely slow right now and I see no signs of a pickup,'' Kerins said.