WILMINGTON, Del.—Newly formed Chemours Co. is cutting its global work force by about 400, or nearly 5 percent of its total employee and contractor base.
The cuts are part of ongoing efforts to streamline and simplify the structure of the organization worldwide and to reduce costs, the firm said in a Nov. 30 press release.
Part of a wider transformation plan, the move will cost the company around $45 million in the fourth quarter of 2015 but deliver annual savings of about $50 million.
The firm also completed a strategic review of its Reactive Metals Solutions business and will stop production at its manufacturing facility in Niagara Falls, N.Y. The move will affect about 200 employees and is expected to improve pre-tax income and adjusted EBITDA by about $20 million annually beginning in 2017. The firm will incur cash charges of about $17 million for employee-related charges, contract termination and removal costs.
Chemours also said it will remain committed to its Belle, W.Va., facility—which produces methylamines. It will remain part of its Chemical Solutions portfolio and will take additional actions to improve its performance.
“We continue to make significant progress executing against our five-point transformation plan by streamlining our portfolio and our organizational structure,” President and CEO Mark Vergnano said in a statement. “The actions announced today will allow us to focus our resources on our core business segments, operate more efficiently and strengthen our financial position.”
The firm's transformation plan focuses on five strategic elements—reducing structural costs, growing market positions, refocusing investments, optimizing its portfolio and enhancing the organization.
Spun off from DuPont on July 1, Chemours supplies titanium technologies, fluoroproducts—including fluoroelastomers under the Viton brand—and chemical solutions. It employs 8,400 across 36 manufacturing sites.