THE WOODLANDS, Texas—Huntsman Corp. is closing four plants—three in the U.S. and one in Germany—that make pigments for plastics and other markets.
The closings will eliminate 120 jobs and will create $20 million in savings by mid-2016, officials with The Woodlands, Texas-based Huntsman said in news release. The U.S. plants being closed are in Cartersville, Ga.; East St. Louis, Ill.; and King of Prussia, Pa. The German plant is in Hainhausen.
“Today's announcement underscores our commitment to restructure and remove costs from our newly acquired assets and operations as quickly and efficiently as possible,” President and CEO Peter Huntsman said in the release.
All four plants were acquired in late 2013 when Huntsman bought five businesses from Rockwood Holdings Inc. for $1.3 billion. Products made at the plants now will be made at other Huntsman plants, as well as at a new plant the firm is building in Augusta, Ga. That plant is expected to employ 100.
Huntsman's 2014 sales grew almost 1 percent to more than $12.7 billion, but sales in its pigments and additives unit fell 3 percent to less than $2.7 billion. In December, Huntsman announced it would cut 900 jobs from that unit by mid-2016. Earlier this year, the firm said it would remove some titanium dioxide capacity from a plant in Calais, France, eliminating an additional 100 positions.
At the same time, Huntsman is spending $100 million to double capacity for specialty polyetheramine resin at its plant in Singapore. That expansion should be complete by the end of 2016