MOSCOW (MRC) -- Domo Chemicals says it will cease production of biaxially oriented polyamide (BOPA) films at Leuna, Germany, closing its plant there in August 2020, said Chemweek.
The company's Domo Film Solutions (DFS) subsidiary will continue operating its BOPA and cast non-oriented polyamide (CPA) film plants at Cesano Maderno, Italy. The company says it has informed employees at Leuna about the closure but has not specified how many jobs will be lost. Domo says it employs about 2,200 people worldwide.
Other operations at the site will not be impacted by the closure. Family-owned Domo says it will maintain the Leuna site as its nylon 6 “core operations hub.” The site is integrated and Domo operates a caprolactam plant there.
Domo says it decided to close the Leuna BOPA plant because of worldwide overcapacity for nylon films. The plant started up in 2018, according to the DFS website. “In these extraordinary circumstances of high business volatility, we have opted to continue to focus on quality and flexibility through cautious and smart asset management, rather than reacting with short-term volume strategies,” Attilio Annoni, managing director at DFS, says.
Following the acquisition of Solvay’s Europe-based nylon 6,6 business at the beginning of this year, Domo says it has become a leading integrated nylon 6 and 6,6 player worldwide. Despite the current market slowdown, which is hurting the automotive and other industrial segments served by Domo’s polymers and intermediates, and engineering materials units, the company says it remains on course to achieve its growth objectives.
Domo says its nylon film business forms an integral part of the supply chains related to segments such as pharmaceuticals, medical, and food packaging, which have all proven to be “essential during the COVID-19 period.”
“We continue to focus on flexibility and competitiveness and have not been impacted in how we support our customers…we will continue to partner with our customers in developing and supplying nylon films for high-performing and sustainable flexible packaging structures,” Annoni says.
Domo generated 2019 sales of more than EUR900 million (USD1 billion).
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