DSM Elastomers to close Addis, La., EPDM plant

ADDIS, La. (July 24)—DSM Elastomers Americas will close its EPDM plant in Addis by mid-2004 and source the material for North American customers from factories in the Netherlands and Brazil. The company said the technology at the Addis plant is too old to justify new investment.It will be razed, probably by 2005, although the firm will maintain a sales and distribution presence in Baton Rouge, La. The closing will result in 180 layoffs. DSM recently commissioned a $110 million, 80,000 metric-ton-per-year EPDM plant in Geelen, Netherlands. A planned capacity expansion at Addis, announced in 2000, never occurred. The company's DSM Copolymer Inc. SBR division in Baton Rouge operates as a separate business and is unaffected by the shutdown notice.