Evonik Industries AG said on Sept. 11 that it plans to close its Hamburg and Bitterfeld sites in Germany next year, affecting 50 and 40 employees, respectively. The Hamburg site supplies products for the cosmetics and personal care industry and the Bitterfeld site produces chlorosilanes, the company said, adding that these businesses will continue, concentrated mainly at larger German sites.
“…Our structures when it comes to production, administration, and laboratories are too fragmented in some areas. This leads to unnecessarily high costs and weakens our competitiveness. That’s why we also need to bundle our locations and concentrate our structures in a targeted manner in order to work more efficiently, drive innovations forward more quickly, and thus strengthen our competitiveness,” said Claus Rettig, interim chairman of Evonik.
The Hamburg site is to be closed by the middle of next year, Evonik said. The activities for cosmetics and personal care products will be bundled together with the technological know-how at Evonik’s larger site at Essen-Goldschmidtstrasse, it said.
Essen is already a major site of the care solutions business line of Evonik, to which the Hamburg site also belongs, the company said. This business is suffering from weak global demand and persistent pressure on profit margins in international competition, much like the rest of the chemical industry, the company added.
“We are aware that this decision represents a drastic change for the employees at the Hamburg site. The decision was made after intensive evaluations of various options and represents the best solution for the successful development of the business,” said Maximilian Morin, head/care solutions business line at Evonik.
The Bitterfeld site is scheduled to close at the end of April 2027, the company said. Evonik added that it will ensure the supply of customers primarily through deliveries from its Rheinfelden site in southern Germany.
The decision follows persistently challenging market conditions for high-purity silicon tetrachloride, including increasing supply from Asia and competitive pressure, it said. Meanwhile, plant utilization has remained at a lower level for an extended period, which does not support economically viable operations, Evonik said.
Various options including alternative operating concepts, a reduction of capacities, mothballing and scenarios to sell the site were examined, it said. None of them promised a sustainable economic perspective in the long term, it added.
“We are aware of the importance of the site for our employees and for the region. At the same time, we have the responsibility to ensure the long-term competitiveness of our business,” said Emmanuel Auer, head/smart effects business line at Evonik.
Evonik announced on June 18 an extension of its Evonik Tailor Made program that includes plans for further job cuts of around 3,200 between 2027 and 2029 and the closure of its polyester business in 2027.
by Sotirios Frantzanas
Source: chemweek.com
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