Chemical Makers Plan Changes In Coatings Businesses

Rohm and Haas says it plans to sell its automotive coatings business by the end of the year.

The company says the 592–employee division, which operates plants in Illinois and Germany, has been hurt by the slump in U.S. auto sales. The division makes and sells exterior automotive coatings such as adhesion promoters, pigmented base coats, and clear coats, as well as both waterborne and solvent-base coatings for auto interiors.

The business had net sales of approximately $109 million in 2005. Rohm and Haas reported a $26 million loss in the automotive coatings business in the second quarter of 2006, compared with a $6 million profit a year earlier.

Meanwhile, DuPont says its plan to restructure its performance coatings business should be complete by the end of the third quarter of 2007. Announced in March, the plan aims to reduce annual costs by $165 million. Labs at Troy, Mich., and Hellac, Germany, have been closed, and their operations have been merged with those at facilities in Mount Clemens, Mich., and Wuppertal, Germany.

Labor discussions have been completed for the planned closure of sites at Rubi and Polinya, in Spain, and Breda, in the Netherlands. The two Spanish sites are expected to close by the end of 2006.