Lanxess AG, specialty chemicals group has decided to cut production of butyl rubber at its plants in Sarnia, Canada, and Zwijndrecht, Belgium, due to a decline in demand for the product.
In the coming months, the plants belonging to the Business Unit Butyl Rubber (BTR) will either be operating at reduced capacity levels or will be temporarily shut down for several weeks, which will allow for routine maintenance work.
As a result, about 360 employees in total will be affected. Flexible working time arrangements for the employees, such as reduction of overtime and use of annual vacation, will be implemented in Canada. Employees in Belgium will be put on short-time working.
Ron Commander, Head of the Butyl Rubber business unit, said, "These measures underline our commitment to reduce costs and control inventory levels. We have also taken steps to ensure our customers will still have an uninterrupted supply of high-quality products."
The Butyl Rubber business unit is one of the leading producers of synthetic rubber, with annual sales of over EUR 500 million, and is part of the Performance Polymers segment. The segment recorded sales of EUR 2.539 billion in the first nine months of 2008.
|
