CRODA TO CLOSE U.K. SITE FOLLOWING DOW'S EO EXIT

摘要

Croda International has announced plans to close its manufacturing operations at Wilton, U.K. in the first half of 2010. The site employs 125,16% of Croda's U.K. workforce. The decision follows Dow Chemical's announced closure of an ethylene oxide (EO) plant at Wilton that supplies raw material to Croda's facilities (CW, July 6/13, p. 11). "Dow is the only company in the U.K. that currently produces EO, a raw material, that Croda is dependent upon to manufacture key products across its consumer care and industrial specialties markets," Croda says. Transporting EO from continental Europe would be subject to strict regulation, making the process complex and expensive, the company says. Croda will instead move production to other sites where EO is more easily accessible. Sites under consideration include Chocques, France and Mevisa, Spain, as well as Croda's sites in the U.S., Singapore, and India.