Job cuts at Chemours and Covestro

Performance chemicals spin-offs Chemours and Covestro are cutting jobs and closing plants as part of plans to lower costs and improve profitability after separating from parent companies DuPont and Bayer.

Chemours’ cuts include a global workforce reduction of around 400 positions in 2016, a cut of approximately 5%. The company will also close its Reactive Metals Solutions site at Niagara Falls US, impacting 200 employees and contractors, and marking the firm’s exit from sodium production.

Covestro is ending methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) production at its site in Tarragona, Spain. The closure will affect 120 jobs, and will take place by the end of 2017. Covestro is planning to expand MDI production at another European site with a more modern and reliable source of chlorine.