Responding to over-capacity in a North American market still affected by the past year’s economic downturn, Clariant will close masterbatches facilities in Lachine (Quebec) and in Milford, Dela. Production from those sites will transfer to the company’s existing Masterbatches locations, principally at Toronto (Ontario) and Albion, Mich., respectively.
The decision, which is also in line with Clariant’s stated intention to optimize its global production network, affects 10 full-time employees at Lachine and 33 at Milford. The affected employees have been informed and will receive severance packages that comply with local law and recognize the employee’s contribution to Clariant and their agreement to work until pre-arranged release dates.
Production at the Lachine site – which opened in 1998 as a satellite location of the Toronto site to make custom smaller orders for Quebec customers − is expected to end in December 2009. Production at Milford is expected to phase out gradually and halt altogether in mid-2010. A limited number of workers are expected to be hired locally at Albion and Toronto to accommodate the transferred manufacturing business.
This “right-sizing” of manufacturing capacity by Clariant’s Masterbatches business in North America is “absolutely essential and must be addressed, given the over-capacity that the economic downturn has caused in the market,” says North American Masterbatches business head Steve Snow. “Our Toronto site has a long history of serving the Quebec market. The redeployment of Lachine’s production to Toronto will let us serve our customers better from a larger site with more comprehensive capabilities,” he notes.
The Milford site makes small lots of custom masterbatches as well as specialty engineering compounds typically used in the automotive and consumer goods sectors.
“As the automotive and construction industries nosedived, so has the demand for many of the products produced in our Milford facility,” Snow notes. “Thanks to our robust network of 13 other North American masterbatches facilities, we are able to shift Milford’s production to an even more modern manufacturing facility at Albion and elsewhere in the U.S. and to continue to serve our customers well as the market rebounds.”
| Media contacs: Connie Knight Phone +1 704 331 7114 connie.knight@clariant.com Mark Hengel Mobile +41 79 227 55 22 mark.hengel@clariant.com | Investor Relations Contacts Ulrich Steiner Phone +41 61 469 67 45 ulrich.steiner@clariant.com |
