MIDDLETOWN — Employment levels are back to normal at Middletown Works as AK Steel Corp. has recalled its final batch of workers on layoff thanks in part to an increase in orders.

The company recalled the remaining 55 workers still idled last week. Those employees are going through a mandatory physical and orientation before re-entering the plant. In about two weeks, all workers should be back on the job, said Scott Rich, president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local Lodge 1943, which represents the hourly work force at Middletown Works.

“We’re not running what we are capable of running if we were going full out, but we have seen an increase in orders so we are headed in the right direction,” Rich said.

A decrease in demand for AK’s steel products and a subsequent decrease in orders has affected employee levels at the plant for the majority of 2009. Rich said in May close to 370 workers were on layoff locally. There are 1,652 hourly workers represented by the Machinists at Middletown Works.

Companywide, about 1,000 workers were idled across AK’s plants in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky for about nine months. Today, only about 140 are on layoff, said company spokesman Alan McCoy.

However, the Mansfield plant has been running in cycles to fulfill orders as needed and may come back down in September since there is still not enough demand to run it continually, he said. Mansfield primarily makes automotive exhaust products.

“We are going to be very cautious because there are still many economists warning while things look better because they don’t continue to look worse, it may be a long, slow, flat recovery,” McCoy said.

At this point, it’s uncertain whether the increase in steel demand is attributable to more consumer buying activity or the result of distribution and service centers restocking. McCoy said at least some of it comes from an increase in automotive manufacturing.

He added that AK hopes the economy “is at a point where it is recovering and will be able to maintain that recovery.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2843 or jheffner@coxohio.com.