Chemical maker Sabic Innovative Plastics will close its compounding plant in Thorndale, Pa., according to reports in American newspapers.
According to Pittsfield, Mass.-based Sabic, the plant is being shuttered because it is too far away from end users in the Pacific region of the U.S.
The Thorndale facility employs approximately 150 workers, and makes LNP-brand compounds based on polycarbonate, nylon and other engineering resins for use in consumer electronics and similar applications
“Over the past several years, Sabic’s customer base…is increasingly located in the Pacific, and this trend is expected to accelerate,” Sabic said in a statement provided to the Daily Local News, a news agency based in West Chester Pa. “These customers continue to request local production in the Pacific and shorter lead times to rapidly meet the constant demand for the latest consumer electronic devices. Customer preferences, combined with flat growth for Americas product demand, has been preventing Sabic’s specialty compounding facilities in the Americas from operating at rates approaching full capacity.”
