In order to bundle processes within the group, geba Kunststoffcompounds (Ennigerloh, Germany; www.geba.eu) said it is shuttering its Austrian plant in St. Veit an der Glan. The smallest of geba’s three production sites has also always struggled to find suitable skilled personnel in the region, which is dominated by tourism, the company said.

Production has already ceased, and machines and silos are currently being dismantled. The compounding activities from St. Veit are to be transferred to the main plant in Ennigerloh, Germany, and the Spanish subsidiary plant in Buñol near Valencia, with both locations to be expanded accordingly.

The closure of the St. Veit plant, which started production in 2006 and was still operating profitably at the end of 2021, is to be completed by the end of March 2022. The compounder of technical thermoplastics and TPU offered the 20 employees at the branch a transfer to the other company sites.

A second laboratory is to be built in Ennigerloh as part of the expansion measures, and investments in additional buildings for production and application technology are also planned in the medium term.

With 19 production lines, a compounding capacity of 20,000 t/y, and a workforce of 160 employees, geba, under the leadership of managing director Liane Gnegeler, recently reported annual sales of around EUR 30 mn.