Due to its continuing unprofitability, Spanish Ercros Group (Barcelona; www.ercros.es), which is focussed on the manufacture of basic products for the chemical and plastics industries, has announced the closure of its chlorine electrolysis facility and derivatives production at its Spanish site of Flix. A total of 156 of the present 207 jobs at the plants on the banks of the River Ebro between Zaragoza and Tarragona will be lost. Furthermore, the management has also decided to acquire EDC to compensate for the loss of raw material supplies to the Vilaseca II VCM/PVC plant near Tarragona, which, according to the Plasteurope.com Polyglobe database (www.polyglobe.net), has a capacity of 200,000 t/y. In Vilaseca, 10 of the 154 jobs will be shed, but not in production.

Through further restructuring measures in phosphate production, for example, all in all 198 of the present 532 jobs in the company’s chlorine chain will be lost. Group-wide, this means a 12% reduction in the workforce. The reason for all these measures is the operating loss of over EUR 22m sustained by the chlorine sector in 2012.

The exact time-frame for the closures has not yet been fixed. The next step will probably be the start of negotiations with the employee representatives in an effort to find a socially acceptable solution for the workforce. Shortly after the announcement, spontaneous strike activities were reported from Flix.