FNsteel is shuttering its plants in Hanko, with 270 employees, and in Kimitoön, with 180. Both towns are on the western part of Finland's south coast. The steelmaker also had some 200 subcontractors associated with the facilities.
The head of the company's Finnish operations, Anders Moliis-Mellberg, says that bankruptcy applications have been filed. However the timetable for proceedings and the impact on the factories' future remain unclear, he says.
The Koverhar plant in Hanko is now closed for repairs. It will not reopen under the current ownership, the company says.
Kimitoön's municipal manager, Tom Simola, says that a plant closure would be a severe blow to the small island municipality. He estimates that the unemployment rate would double to more than 10 percent.
FNsteel, which makes wire rod and PC strand, has two other factories in Sweden and the Netherlands.
More bad news in aviation
Also on Tuesday, the airline Air Finland went out of business while Finnish airport operator Finavia said it was cutting its staff by 40.
The former Finnish Civil Aviation Administration's administrative shakeup will result in 26 redundancies. The other positions will be eliminated through retirements and other arrangements. Most of the jobs being axed are held by white-collar workers in the Helsinki region.
Finavia is responsible for 25 airports in the country.
