Novocherkassk halts methanol production, plans lay-offs

16 June 2009 09:31  [Source: ICIS news]

MOSCOW (ICIS news)--Russia's Novocherkassk Plant of Synthetic Products (NPSP) has halted its methanol production due to adverse market conditions, the company said in a statement released on Tuesday.

NPSP shut down its methanol facility because it could no longer afford to sell product well below cost, according to the statement.

NPSP also plans to lay off 1,700 of its 2,200 empolyees by mid-September, the company's human resources director, Natalia Redko, said in the statement.

NPSP, based in Novocherkassk, in southern Russia’s Rostov region, operates a 220,000 tonne/year methanol plant.

In January 2006, NPSP was sold in a privatisation auction for €9m ($12.3m).

In early 2008, the NPSP was taken over by Russia's Agro-Invest company, which pledged to build a new 450,000 tonne/year methanol unit at the NPSP premises in Novocherkassk.

In December 2008, Rostov regional authorities said the project to build the new methanol unit would be suspended due to adverse market conditions.

($1 = €0.73)

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By: Sergei Blagov
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