Switzerland-based global specialty chemicals provider Clariant has announced plans to close plants and cut jobs in order to address overcapacities and reduce costs. The proposals are the first arrangments in Clariant's Global Asset Network Optimization (GANO) project, part of a wider restructuring program the company has initiated to improve its efficiency and increase competitiveness.

Clariant sites to be closed include Huningue, France; Pontypridd, Wales; CIVAC, Cuernavaca in Mexico, and portions of two plants in Frankfurt and Gendorf, Germany. Clariant also is considering closing its site in Onsan, South Korea. The closings will affect approximately 570 employees worldwide.

Clariant expects to complete the closures -- including transferring production to other parts of the company's site network -- sometime between 2011 and 2013. The restructuring will cost approximately 150 million Swiss francs.

November 24, 2009