Chemtura slashing 500 jobs globally
MIDDLEBURY, CONN. — Chemtura Corp. will eliminate 500 jobs worldwide as part of a corporate restructuring.
Chemtura — a maker of plastic additives and other specialty chemicals based in Middlebury — will reduce its fixed costs by $50 million by making the cuts, which represent about 20 percent of its professional and administrative workforce.
The firm will take an unspecified fourth-quarter charge for the eliminations, and will pay cash costs of between $15 million and $20 million during the next three quarters as well.
``Like many companies, Chemtura has seen order volumes decline as its customers experience, or anticipate, reductions in demand from the industries they serve,'' officials said in a Dec. 11 news release.
Chemtura lost $283 million in the first nine months of 2008, even as sales were flat at $2.9 billion vs. the year-ago period. The firm generates about 45 percent of its sales from plastic additives.
Chemtura's per-share stock price was above $8 in mid-June, but has been trading below $2 since mid-October.
PN offering new prices for 2009 forum
AKRON, OHIO — In a move to make its 2009 Executive Forum more affordable for participants during these challenging times, Plastics News is extending a special offer that, in effect, lowers the cost for attendees from plastics processing companies and their customers by as much as $500.
Attendees from processor companies and original equipment manufacturers can pay $1,195 to attend the March 1-4 conference in Summerlin, Nev., and receive a $200 credit on a room.
Other delegates (e.g. from supplier and other nonprocessor companies) can take advantage of a $1,295 early-bird registration offer that has been extended until Jan. 31. After that the full registration fee of $1,495 takes effect.
Additionally, organizations that send three or more paying attendees qualify for a group discount of $200 per person. Attendees can reserve rooms at a special conference rate of $249 per night, providing they are part of the newspaper's room block and booked by Feb. 12.
Convening just weeks after the Obama administration assumes control in Washington, the 2009 forum program will focus on the financial aspects of managing a plastics operation, from accessing capital and managing debt, to protecting your firm from the ripple effects of having vendors or customers go bankrupt. Other topics will include materials pricing, merger and acquisition trends, resin buying strategies, automotive and other end-market prospects, sustainability, and management best practices.
Also, Plastics News once again will crown its Processor of the Year at a March 3 reception at the event. For more details, visit www.plasticsnews.com/forum2009.
Cereplast sells $20 million of its stock
HAWTHORNE, CALIF. — Bioplastics maker Cereplast Inc. has sold $20 million of its common stock to private equity firm Cumorah Capital Inc.
Cumorah has owned part of Cereplast since 2006. Cumorah will make the investment over a two-year period, officials said in a Dec. 10 news release.
Cereplast recently began production of bioplastics at a 105,000-square-foot plant in Seymour, Ind. The site is expected to have initial production of 50 million pounds per year and will employ 15 by early 2009. To date, Cereplast has invested $2.6 million in Seymour. The firm already has 45 million pounds of annual capacity at its Hawthorne headquarters plant.
Cereplast's products include bioplastic compounds based on polylactic acid resin sourced from NatureWorks LLC. Customers buying from Cereplast or testing its material include WNA Inc. of Covington, Ky.; Genpak LLC of Glens Falls, N.Y.; Pittsburgh-based Alcoa Inc.'s packaging and consumer business segment; Primex Plastics Corp. unit Pace Industries Inc. in Reedsburg, Wis.; Groupe Danone unit Dannon Co. Inc. of White Plains, N.Y.; and Oxnard, Calif.-based CSI/Cosmolab.