Celanese Corporation, a global technology and speciality materials company, is proceeding with closure talks for its acetic anhydride facility in Roussillon, France, and vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) production unit in Tarragona, Spain, after failing to find a “credible buyer for both properties”. The US-headquartered firm had made known its intention to sell the plants in May this year.

Celanese says it placed great effort in identifying credible buyers that could ensure sustainable operations, retain employees and meet the financial criteria defined by the company to ensure successful future operations of the VAM production unit in Tarragona and the acetic anhydride plant in Roussillon. To date, “no credible buyers have been identified and no offers for acquiring these facilities were made,” says the firm.

Therefore, today the company says it regretfully announces its intent to initiate discussions concerning the possible closure of both the acetic anhydride facility in Roussillon and the VAM production unit in Tarragona. This action is initiated to safeguard the competitiveness of the Celanese acetyl business.

The need for these contemplated projects emerged from an assessment of Celanese's overall corporate strategy, which included an assessment of the company's global manufacturing facilities. Specifically, in support of the company's acetyl portfolio, the manufacturing footprint strategy favours integrated production sites that provide critical economies of scale.

Celanese subsidiaries that operate these facilities expect to soon begin the consultation process with local employee representatives to mitigate the social impact of these contemplated closures to the best possible extent.