MIDDLEBURY, Conn.- Chemtura Corp. announced Monday that it plans to restructure its global supply chain for standard antioxidants.
The company said the restructuring is designed to position Chemtura to be more competitive in the world plastics market and to more effectively serve its global customers.
Chemtura plans to close and/or divest selective sites in Europe, as well as potential investments in other parts of the world. The company’s facilities in Pedrengo and Ravenna, Italy, and Catenoy, France, will be affected by the changes.
In the third quarter of 2007, the company intends to end standard antioxidant production and to close the antioxidant facilities at Pedrengo and Ravenna. It is also proposing the shuttering of two intermediate chemical products at Catenoy.
Approximately 125 to 135 employees would be affected at Pedrengo, about 25 to 35 at Ravenna and around 35 at Catenoy.
“Although significant gains in productivity have been made in recent years at Pedrengo and Ravenna, those gains have been overshadowed by increasing operational and raw material costs,” said Anne Noonan, president of Chemtura’s Polymer Additives Group, which operates the sites. “As a result, the current manufacturing position for standard antioxidants at these sites continues to fall below profit expectations.”