Closure of the Ceriano Laghetto site in Italy is key to the plans to improve the competitiveness of Rhodia Polyamide (Saint-Fons / France; www.rhodia-polyamide.com) in Europe – see Plasteurope.com of 08.10.2008 – presented by management to the company’s European Works Council on 8 October 2008. Under the proposals, which will encompass production as well as R&D functions, 212 employees (out of a 228-member workforce) will lose their jobs in the Italian shutdown. The 16 remaining staff work in sales and will be relocated from Ceriano Laghetto to another Rhodia sales office at nearby Ospiate di Bollate.

The Italian site’s PA 6.6 production and compounding capacity will be split almost equally between the Rhodia Polyamide headquarters at Saint Fons (the “Belle Etoile” site near Lyon) and Rhodia Polyamide Polska in Gorzów / Poland. The French site will take the standard compounds and Poland the specialities. Plans to expand the polymerisation units have been hinted at, but details have not yet been revealed.

Changes also are in store for the R&D activities. Two units are to be transferred to the company’s research centre at Saint-Fons, including “Testing” and “CAD Development”, currently based in Freiburg / Germany. Rhodia Polyamide also has a "Future Laboratory" in Bordeaux / France and an Inorganic Chemistry Centre in Paris.

The recently announced plans are part of a more far-reaching effort to cut costs by around EUR 40m by 2010. A company spokesperson declined to give details of the restructuring costs.