Celanese to cut 440 jobs; shut acetate unit

28 October 1999 22:18  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (CNI)--Germany's Celanese AG announced Thursday it permanently shut down production at its Drummondville, Canada site by the end of the first quarter of 2000, eliminating the jobs of the site's 440 employees.

After closure of the 15 000 tonne Drummondville production site, Celanese said it will have a global capacity of 73 000 tonne of cellulose acetate filament. But the company said it will remain the world's largest cellulose acetate filament producer even after the shutdown.

Phil Cogbill, general manager of Celanese AG's acetate textiles division in New York City, blamed the decision to shut down the Drummondville site on excess production capacity and persistent weak market conditions.

He said: "Our goal is to strengthen our position as a world leader of high-quality acetate filament for apparel fashions and linings. This closure will not impact our customers who will continue to have the full range of our products available through other sites."

Company officials declined to provide an estimate of how much Celanese would save as a result of the closure and called it "possible" some of the 440 employees would be transferred to another site.

Celanese acetate filament is manufactured in the US, Canada, Mexico and Belgium.

By: Mary Ann Tawasha
+1 713 525 2653

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