InterviewA Schulman mulls sale of US site

20 August 2008 22:29  [Source: ICIS news]

By Stefan Baumgarten

 

TORONTO (ICIS news)--US plastics compound producer A Schulman may sell a site in Findlay, Ohio, and will not pursue a previously announced new Polybatch additives project there, CEO Joseph Gingo said on Wednesday.

 

“At this point it would be my intention to sell that site,” Gingo told ICIS news in an interview, adding that it had just one building.

 

Last year, the company had announced plans for a $24m (€16.3m) Polybatch facility for Findlay.

 

But rather than pursuing that project, Schulman had decided to build a new facility in Akron, Ohio that was due to begin production in October, as reported earlier on Wednesday, Gingo said.

 

Akron, the site of an underutilised Schulman warehousing and distribution centre, was a much better option for the new plant as it already had necessary infrastructure in place.

 

Also, the city of Akron offered Schulman “substantial” financial incentives, Gingo said.

 

Schulman expected to invest about $10m in the new plant, he said but declined to disclose its production capacity.

 

The new facility will creat initially 20 jobs, with 60 jobs to be added as production increases.

 

Schulman’s Polybatch product line consists of specialised, high-tech additives for polypropylene, film, extrusion, injection moulding and thermoforming applications, primarily in the packaging market.

 

The company has seven Polybatch plants in Europe, two in Asia and two in North America.

 

($1=€0.68)

 

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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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