Huntsman to cut jobs across all divisions
Canadian Plastics
Canadian PlasticsSpecialty chemical supplier Huntsman announced plans to eliminate almost 1,200 positions by the end of 2009.
Specialty chemical supplier Huntsman announced plans to eliminate almost 1,200 positions by the end of 2009.
The cuts will be spread across all divisions and functions and represent more than nine per cent of the global work force of Huntsman, the company said in a news release.
Huntsman also will eliminate almost 500 contractor positions and close a 200-employee plant making titanium oxide – a pigment commonly used in plastics – in Grimsby, England.
The job cuts will create $150 million in savings, while the plant closing will generate another $28 million in savings, officials said in the release. Huntsman also is reducing its 2009 capital expenditure budget to $230 million, which represents a 45 per cent drop versus 2007.
“This restructuring will allow us to improve our business where we most acutely feel the effects of the present global economic slowdown, mainly in our pigments and textile divisions,” said Huntsman president and CEO Peter Huntsman. “We remain optimistic in our current positions in polyurethanes, advanced materials and performance products.”