NEWTON — Officials with Oregon-based ESCO Corporation laid off 56 employees at its Newton manufacturing plant earlier this week.

    “Despite the continuous best efforts of those in Newton, and the Mining Division in general, demand for mining products has not resumed to a level that will support ESCO’s current manufacturing capacity levels,” Mike Fillion, ESCO’s vice president of operations for the Mining Division, wrote in a statement emailed to The Meridian Star in response to a query.

    The employees were laid off on Tuesday.

    “This is a result of having built excess capacity in the first half of 2015, and the need to bring our existing inventory back into balance with ESCO sales this year,” Fillion wrote. “Together with my colleagues across the company we are grateful for our Newton colleagues who have done all they can to remain productive and safe, and wish them nothing but the best moving forward.”

    Phone calls to the plant manager in Newton were not returned.

    Headquartered in Portland, Ore., ESCO opened its Newton plant in the early 1970s. ESCO is an independent developer and manufacturer of highly engineered wear parts and replacement products used in mining, infrastructure development, oil and gas, and industrial applications, according to the company’s website.