Shutdowns announced by SABIC, as it consolidates operations in North America

08-Dec-15

SABIC is consolidating operations in North America. The company announced it is merging its technology and innovation operations from its Exton, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and Selkirk, New York locations into one operation in Selkirk. The consolidation of this combined research and development expertise will take place as soon as the necessary modifications to Selkirk facilities are completed, which is estimated in 2017. At that time, SABIC will exit its Pittsfield Polymer Processing Development Center and close its Exton site. This announcement follows SABIC’s disclosure that it planned to shut its manufacturing plant in Thorndale, sometime in March. In explaining the moves, SABIC said the reorganization will improve its research and development practices. “This integration will not only drive important efficiencies, it will also merge material science, process engineering and application development into a collaborative environment that will lead to new innovation breakthroughs,” said Awadh Al-Maker, executive vice president of SABIC Technology & Innovation. “A collaborative R&D environment will result in a wide variety of problem-solving options for our customers and will accelerate our development cycle,” said Thierry Materne, vice president, Technology & Innovation.