Rehau restarting Prescott, Ont. PVC plant

Polymer manufacturer Rehau Inc. has recommenced its PVC pipe extrusion operations at its plant in Prescott, Ontario.

The move comes as part of an arrangement to supply material to Canadian distributor Distribution Brunet Inc. (DBI) in Lévis, Quebec.

Leesburg, Va.-based Rehau had nearly closed the Prescott plant last fall as part of an exit of commodity markets for cross-linked polyethylene plumbing pipe and municipal PVC pipe in North America.

According to Rehau, workers are now being rehired at the Prescott plant, which had remained open with a skeleton crew to deliver pipe to customers. The Prescott plant will recover 20 of the 40 jobs that were eliminated last fall.

“DBI was seeking to secure a Canadian source for PVC pipe when they learned of Rehau’s plant closure last October,” said Ralf Helmold, Rehau’s Prescott plant manager, in a news release. “Reopening our Prescott plant will allow us to capitalize on our existing equipment and experienced staff, which will more rapidly propel the development and production of our latest innovations in pipe system solutions.”