CHAMPAGNIER, France (Oct. 6) — Polimeri Europa S.p.A. plans to close its polychloroprene factory in Champagnier amid uncertainty about its main supplier of chlorine.
Polimeri notified workers at the plant Sept. 30 that production has ceased and the factory would close, according to a spokesman for the French union.
The plant makes polychloroprene and polychloroprene latex under the Butaclor trade names.
The plant is built adjacent to its main supplier of chlorine products, Chloralp. According to reports, this company has failed to supply chlorine products in three of the last nine months.
Polimeri´s CR takes 15 to 20 percent of the output of the Chloralp plant, and this closure threatens the future of Chloralp itself, reports said.
Polimeri Europa comprises the former olefins & aromatics, styrenics, elastomers and polyethylene businesses of Italy´s EniChem S.p.A.