Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) recently announced that it is restructuring its European business. The company said the planned restructuring includes “the shutdown of certain assets and a net reduction of approximately 1,050 positions, while there will also be continued investments in plant improvements, new technologies and innovation.” While the company gave no indication of what plants and petrochemical products would be impacted, it did say that the staff cuts would take place across Europe, including one-third contracting staff and two-thirds SABIC employees.
SABIC Europe has 13 petrochemical production sites and employs almost 6,000 people. Its Innovative Plastics division produces engineering thermoplastics at Bergen Op Zoom, Enkhuizen and Raamsdonksveer (the Netherlands), Grangemouth and Thornaby (UK), Fosses (France), Pontirolo and Olgiate Olona (Italy), Cartagena (Spain) and Wiener Neustadt (Austria). Sites at Geleen (Netherlands), Teesside (UK), and Gelsenkirchen (Germany) produce polyethylenes, polypropylene, chemicals and intermediates. A strike by workers at the Geleen plant earlier this year over working conditions was said by SABIC to have had “barely any material business impact” (MEES, 8 February). (CONTINUED - 331 WORDS)
