Kaydon Ring & Seal, an aerospace parts factory that has operated in Baltimore for nearly a century, will close within two years, when the plant's 222 jobs will be moved to Pennsylvania, the parent company said Thursday.

SKF USA Inc., based in Lansdale, Pa., said it is consolidating manufacturing in the United States, where it employs about 3,500 people, and closing the plant in Baltimore's Pigtown and another in San Diego.

Work being done at a factory in Hanover, Pa., will be moved to a Georgia facility, and the Baltimore production will shift to the Hanover plant, the company said. Manufacturing at the San Diego site will move to existing sites in Europe.

All Baltimore employees will be offered jobs at the Hanover plant, said Monique Turner, a spokeswoman for SKF USA, a division of SKF, a Sweden-based global maker of bearings, seals and lubrication systems for the aerospace, oil and gas, and railroad industries, as well as for the military.

Hanover, Pa., is about 90 minutes from Kaydon's Baltimore plant at 1600 Wicomico St.

“We don't expect everyone to take it up, but the offer is definitely there,” Turner said. “We are still in the planning and preparation stage. The purpose of today's announcement is to announce our intentions. ... It took a long time for us to reach this decision.”

Workers at the plant are represented by the International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers, but a union representative could not be reached for comment.

SKF purchased Kaydon Corp. in 2013. The Kaydon Ring & Seal factory, which makes industrial seals and rings for the aerospace industry, has been operating since 1917.

The changes, to occur over the next two years, are expected to save SKF about $27?million. The Swedish company had $9.3?billion in sales last year.

“These activities will strengthen our position in North America, making us more competitive and better able to support our customers by improving the utilization of our manufacturing assets,” said Luc Graux, president of bearing operations, in the company's announcement. “They also provide the foundation for investments in the further development of our manufacturing processes and technologies.”

Baltimore Development Corp. President Bill Cole said he hopes companies will come in to replace Kaydon, noting that new employers arrived in the wake of the General Motors and Sun Products departures.

“We are disappointed to learn that business conditions elsewhere have caused the future closure,” Cole said in an email. “Given that we have seen a robust interest in warehouse and industrial land, we remain hopeful that we can fill the void.”

He said the Mayor's Office of Employment Development will be available to help displaced workers find new jobs.

Officials with the Maryland Department of Commerce met with company representatives last year and “they did not indicate any concerns or issues,” said Karen Glenn Hood, a department spokeswoman. “They said they were growing in the city. We were not given any indication they would be closing.

“These are corporate decisions that sometimes we have no control over,” she said. “It's always disappointing when that takes place.”

Turner said a more modern facility being operated in Hanover weighed in that location's favor.

“It would require major investment to bring the [Baltimore] building up to speed,” she said.

lorraine.mirabella@baltsun.com