Clariant closing masterbatch facilities in Quebec, Delaware

Citing over-capacity in the North American market, Clariant Masterbatches is shuttering its masterbatch facility in Lachine, Que.

The company is also closing its masterbatch location in Milford, Del.

Production from the Quebec facility will transfer to Clariant’s Toronto location, while production from Milford will be diverted to Albion, Mich.

Production at the Lachine site – which opened in 1998 as a satellite location of the Toronto site to make custom smaller orders for Quebec customers – is expected to end in December, 2009. Production at Milford is expected to phase out gradually and halt altogether in mid-2010.

Ten full-time employees in Lachine and 33 at Milford will lose their jobs. A limited number of workers are expected to be hired locally at Albion and Toronto to accommodate the transferred manufacturing business, Clariant said.

“Our Toronto site has a long history of serving the Quebec market. The redeployment of Lachine’s production to Toronto will let us serve our customers better from a larger site with more comprehensive capabilities,” said Steve Snow, head of Clariant’s North American Masterbatches business.