Chemical Plant Closure Activity in North America Could Reach Turning Point in 2010

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The number of Chemical Processing Industry (CPI) plants to permanently close their doors this year in the United States and Canada has declined sharply in comparison to last year. Industrial Info has identified 34 CPI plant closures so far this year, compared to 111 plant closures in 2009. Of these plants, 27 already have closed, with the largest number of them in the Great Lakes region consisting of Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, where six plants have closed this year, totaling a loss of more than 300 jobs. Recently, A. Schulman Incorporated (NASDAQ:SHLM) closed the doors of their Sharon Center, Ohio, compounding plant, which resulted in 80 employees losing their jobs.

Between now and the end of the year, another seven plants are planned to be closed permanently. Three of these closures will be in the Northeast region, which consists of Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, and will equal a loss of almost 325 jobs. E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (NYSE:DD) (DuPont) (Wilmington, Delaware) has the largest planned closure for 2010 at the company's films plant in Florence, South Carolina, resulting in 200 lost jobs for the region.

The resins and paints industry, which includes plastic materials, elastomers, varnishes, lacquers, enamels and allied products, represents one-quarter of all the plants to be closed and already closed in 2010. BASF SE (OTC:BASFY) (Ludwigshafen, Germany) is planning on closing the doors on their Belvidere, New Jersey, paints plant by the end of the year, which will result in a loss of 156 jobs.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.