Celanese mulls closure of VAM, acetic anhydride units in Spain, France
Celanese has informed employee delegates in Roussillon, France, and work council in Tarragona, Spain, of contemplated closures of the Roussillon acetic anhydride facility and the vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) production unit in Tarragona.
Celanese announced on May 22, 2013, that it wanted to find credible buyer for both properties, with the primary focus on industrial candidates.
The company said it placed great effort in identifying credible buyers that could ensure sustainable operations, retain employees and meet the financial criteria defined by the company to ensure successful future operations of the VAM production unit in Tarragona and the acetic anhydride plant in Roussillon.
To date, no credible buyers have been identified and no offers for acquiring these facilities were made.
Therefore, Celanese said Monday that it will begin discussions concerning the possible closure of both the acetic anhydride facility in Roussillon and the VAM production unit in Tarragona. This action is initiated to safeguard the competitiveness of the Celanese acetyl business.
The need for these contemplated projects emerged from an assessment of Celanese’s overall corporate strategy, which included an assessment of the company’s global manufacturing facilities. Specifically, in support of the company’s acetyl portfolio, the manufacturing footprint strategy favors integrated production sites that provide critical economies of scale.
Celanese subsidiaries that operate these facilities expect to soon begin the consultation process with local employee representatives to mitigate the social impact of the closures to the best possible extent.
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