Sabic dissolving Innovative Plastics unit, relocating to Houston from Pittsfield, Mass.

Chemical supplier Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (Sabic) is dissolving its Sabic Innovative Plastics unit.

As part of the decision, Sabic is also closing its long-time office in Pittsfield, Mass., and moving to Houston – what the company calls “the heart of the U.S. petrochemical industry.”

In a news release, officials with Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based Sabic said that the company’s commodity products will be placed in the parent firm’s Chemicals and Polymers unit. Remaining Sabic IP products will be in a new Specialties unit.

Some of the 300 employees in Pittsfield will transfer to Sabic offices in the Houston area, officials said. The company is still evaluating Pittsfield’s Polymer Processing Development Center and its location.

“Exiting the Pittsfield site was a logical yet very difficult business decision, knowing the important role our business and people have played in this community over the years,” Sabic vice president and acting CEO Yousef Al-Benyan said in the release.

GE Plastics was based in Pittsfield for many years and the business remained there after being sold to Sabic for in 2007.

The Pittsfield HQ will be closed during 2016, the company said, with the majority of the relocation to Houston completed by midyear.