Ticona halts manufacturing in Telford
20 Jan 2003
Ticona, the technical polymers business of Celanese AG, is to cease manufacturing at its site in Telford in the UK and concentrate its European manufacturing operations in Germany.
The marketing and sales functions in the UK will remain unaffected; however, the move is anticipated to affect around 70 people. At present, Ticona UK employs over 100 people in manufacturing, marketing, sales and administration.
The company says that the move to Germany is to improve the overall financial performance of its polyester business.
The Telford facility has been manufacturing Ticona products for over 15 years. The site has a capacity of over 14,000 tons per year and primarily compounds polyester products for the European market, with a small portion remaining in the UK for sale.
Ticona markets a broad range of polyesters grades under the brand names Celanex (Polybutylenterephthalate-PBT), Impet (technical Polyesters-PET) and Vandar (thermoplastic polyester blends). They are used in a variety of applications in the automotive industry, in household appliances, and in the electrical, electronics and machinery industries.
Ticona also runs a 64,000 metric tons p.a. polyester polymer plant on its Shelby site in North Carolina, US and has its US compounding facilities in Shelby, Florence/Kentucky and Bishop/Texas.
