With the economic outlook deteriorating rapidly, Solutia (St. Louis, Missouri / USA; www.solutia.com) is quickly moving to reduce costs and restructure its “Vydyne” PA 6.6 business to make it more attractive to potential buyers. The US group, which also produces PVB films, said in late June that it wanted to sell the business to generate funds for expansion into less cyclical markets and retire debt – see Plasteurope.com of 04.07.2008.

As part of a scale-back along the PA production chain, Solutia is laying off around 1,600 employees in the US – about half of them permanently. It has already permanently closed the carpet fibre filament production plant in Greenwood, South Carolina, which previously had been idled. Five other US facilities are affected by the decision, which reflects a sharp drop in demand. Solutia expects the measures to result in cost savings of around USD 40m annually (10% of total expenditure) in the PA 6.6 business.