Manchester-based steel service centre Malcolm Clarke will close by summer this year, the company said in a letter to customers and suppliers.
The company said any existing and new orders will be fulfilled in full and on time, ahead of its target closure date of June 2025. The closure may be slightly later than this date after its "orderly winding down", the company said. Suppliers will be paid before the closure, it added.
Malcolm Clarke in its financial results to June 2024, published on 2 April, announced that it would cease trading, so its accounts had been prepared "on a basis other than going concern".
"The business environment in which we operate has become increasingly unstable, with unpredictable shifts in market and regulation making it very challenging for small- to medium-sized participants in the day-to-day spot market," the company told Argus.
"Despite our best efforts to adapt and evolve, we do not envisage a short- to medium-term future where the situation is likely to improve significantly," it added, suggesting changes to the market were structural and permanent.
The business, which was incorporated in September 1970, has two heavy decoiling lines and also sells reversing mill plate.