Notable quote

The Magnitude 7 Metals plant employs over 500 workers, representing more than Marston's total population. Also, as one of the nation's last primary aluminum smelters, producing about one-fifth of the nation's aluminum, the Magnitude 7 Metals plant is also important to the national aluminum supply. Closing the Magnitude 7 Metals plant indefinitely would have detrimental and far-reaching impact on the people of Missouri and others across the country. -- Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in a Friday, Feb. 16, letter to Matt Lucke, founder of Swiss-based ARG International AG, which owns the Magnitude 7 Metals aluminum plant in Marston.

Bailey urged Lucke to sell the facility instead of closing it; according to the letter, Magnitude 7 Metals laid off its workforce Jan. 28. The attorney general said his office received information Lucke has offers to sell the plant that he has not entertained, and that refusing to engage with them could violate federal antitrust laws.

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