ExxonMobil confirms French butyl rubber closure plan

Houston, Texas –ExxonMobil has confirmed that it plans to close the 'regular butyl rubber' unit at the company's Notre Dame de Gravenchon petrochemicals complex in France.

The closure at the ExxonMobil Chemical France site is “under review by the company's works council”, an ExxonMobil spokeswoman said in an emailed statement to ERJ on 19 Dec.

The butyl rubber unit is scheduled for closure in the third quarter of 2015, continued the statement, adding that the company aims to reassign affected workers to other positions at the site.

According to French media reports, ExxonMobil had deemed the unit uncompetitive for the production of regular butyl rubber due to its higher operating costs and declining demand for the material in Europe. The closure was expected to cost 76 jobs.

ExxonMobil said it would continue to produce regular butyl rubber from other facilities and emphasised that the closure had no impact on its halobutyl operations.

The company claims to have the world’s largest installed capacity  for halobutyl rubber, which it produces at its facilities in the US and UK, and via a joint-venture in Japan.