Chemours to Cut Titanium Dioxide Capacity, Close Delaware Plant

By Chelsey Dulaney 

Chemours Co., the performance-chemicals company spun off from DuPont Co. in July, said Thursday that it will close its titanium dioxide plant in Delaware as it struggles with weak titanium dioxide pricing.

The Edge Moor plant, which makes titanium dioxide for the paper industry, has 200 employees and 130 contractors. Chemours said it would redeploy employees where possible.

Chemours said it would also shut down a titanium dioxide line at its plant in New Johnsonville, Tenn. Together, the moves will cut its titanium dioxide capacity by 150,000 metric tonnes.

Chemours expects the closures to reduce annual costs by $45 million. The company will book $110 million in charges in the third quarter related to the closures, with another $75 million to $85 million in restructuring and severance charges over the next few years.

The announcement comes two weeks after Chemours announced plans to cut $350 million in costs by 2017 and review options for its chemical solutions business.

Chemours's products are used in things like plastics, coatings and air conditioning. Its brands include Teflon, Ti-Pure and Krytox. The company has struggled lately with weak titanium dioxide pricing and currency headwinds.

Shares of Chemours, down 21.9% in the past month, fell 1.1% to $9.65 a share in premarket trading.

Write to Chelsey Dulaney at [e-mail]

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August 20, 2015 08:44 ET (12:44 GMT)

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