INEOS NOVA to close down Ohio PS plant

29 November 2007 15:56  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS news)--INEOS NOVA will permanently shut down a 220m pound/year polystyrene (PS) plant in Belpre, Ohio, in January, to cut costs, removing some 12% of its North American PS capacity, it said on Thursday.

 

"Shutting down the Belpre site removes additional high-cost capacity and will enable us to further consolidate production at the company’s most efficient manufacturing sites,” said INEOS NOVA CEO Kevin McQuade.

 

The company would transfer production of its NAS and ZYLAR specialty resins to its plant in Indian Orchard, Massachusetts, it said.

 

INEOS NOVA, which is looking for synergies of $80m (€54m), recently announced the closure of a PS facility in Montreal, Canada.

 

In a separate statement Canada’s NOVA Chemicals - which is an equal partner in INEOS NOVA with UK-based INEOS - said the Belpre closure would amount to about 4% of overall North American PS capacity while cutting INEOS NOVA’s fixed costs by some $9m/year.

 

NOVA would take a $32m asset write-down to account for the Belpre closure while its $3m share of the closure and severance costs would be funded by INEOS NOVA from cash on hand, it said.

 

($1 = €0.67)

By: Stefan Baumgarten
+1 713 525 2653

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