Switzerland-based global specialty chemicals provider Clariant has announced a second step in its Global Asset Network Optimization (GANO), part of a wider restructuring program the company initiated last year to improve efficiency and increase competitiveness (See " Clariant To Close Plants, Reduce Workforce," www.TextileWorld.com, Nov. 24, 2009).

Clariant will transfer Textile Dyes and Textile Chemicals production from Muttenz, Switzerland, to locations in Asia, and will move Paper Chemical production to Prat, Spain. Textile production in Resende, Brazil, will be optimized, resulting in a partial plant closure. A proposal to the Board of Directors of Clariant Chemicals (India) Ltd. will suggest closure of the Balkum site in Thane, India.

The company reports these measures will impact approximately 500 employees, 400 of which it estimates are in Muttenz, Switzerland. The transfers and closures are expected to occur between 2011 and 2013.

February 16, 2010