Albis Plastics Inc. plans to close its compounding plant near Toronto in mid-June.
Slow economic conditions have cut demand for toll compounding services and created excess capacity that Albis can't fill in the foreseeable future, Albis President Stephen Gill said in a news release. The plant in Pickering, Ontario, mainly does toll compounding but it also makes engineering and filled commodity compounds for injection molders.
Albis will transfer some of Pickering's equipment to the Albis Plastics Corp. compounding operation in Houston, which has plenty of capacity to serve North America, with room to expand. The Houston operation has been expanding and plans to hire 15 more sales people this year. Albis will supply Canadian customers from Houston via local warehouses.
Albis toll compounds Bayer Corp. and BASF Corp. plastics as well as a range of materials for other major resin makers. The company would not disclose Pickering's current capacity. Five years ago an official said it was 40 million pounds per year with 93 employees. The plant now employs 74.
The Pickering operation opened as a distribution center in 1979 and started production in 1985. Workers at the facility are members of the Canadian Auto Workers, Local 1090. They struck the plant for a month in 1998 before ratifying a three-year contract. Last year they ratified a contract without a strike.
