Wisconsin’s frac sand industry is seeing another round of layoffs as nearly half the workforce at mine and processing plant in Sparta is being let go.
US Silica is laying off 30 employees. Spokesman Mike Lawson said low oil prices have caused a sharp decline in demand for sand.
“As an industry, we expect demand to be down somewhere on the order of 25 percent to 30 percent in 2015 versus 2014,” Lawson said.
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He said last year the company could barely meet demand, but with oil prices half of what they were they’ve been forced to adjust.
“So, we’ve gone back at a number of our plants now to working five days a week and maybe only one or two shifts, but clearly the most significant reduction in force to date has been at our Sparta location,” he said.
Sparta Mayor Ronald Button said he’s not concerned about the layoffs and he expects the plant to ramp back up when oil prices rebound.
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