Views: 12 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2023-03-14 Origin: Site
2022 was a rocky year for the chemical industry.
Energy prices soared under the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the epidemic continued to cause a global economic downturn, end demand sagged and chemical companies' profits were squeezed sharply. Such as Dow, BASF and many other international chemical giants performance is less than expected, forced by layoffs, plant closures and other operations to cut the pressure on the cost side.
Dow: lay off 2,000 people, close part of the production line!
Local time on January 26, the U.S. chemical giant Dow Chemical reported that by rising energy costs, weak demand and supply chain disruptions, the company's fourth quarter 2022 profit was less than Wall Street expected, the announcement will lay off about 2,000 employees worldwide, in addition to closing some factories, reducing raw material purchases and cutting logistics and utilities costs.
The scale of the layoffs is equivalent to 5% of Dow Chemical's total workforce. Such a substantial layoffs, mainly also last year Dow Chemical performance is less than expected. According to the information, in 2022, Dow Chemical achieved net sales of $56.9 billion, down 3.45% year-on-year, and net income of $4.64 billion, a decline of more than 27%.
Dow Chemical said that the polyether polyol division, polyester polyol division and polymer polyol division due to the impact of the China plant, also in the planning of layoffs, closing some production lines measures, the main purpose is to reduce the current year to reduce expenses of $ 1 billion, in response to the global economic slowdown and lower market demand.
3M: Less-than-expected results, plans to cut 2,500 jobs
With profits falling short of expectations in the most recent quarter, 3M plans to cut 2,500 global manufacturing jobs, which CEO Mike Roman called "a necessary decision to align with adjusted production" in 3M's earnings report.
In addition, in December last year, the U.S. industrial group 3M announced that it would withdraw from the production of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). 3M said it would stop producing all fluoropolymers, fluorinated liquids and PFAS-based additive products by the end of 2025, and would stop using PFAS in all its products by the end of 2025.
BASF: Industry cuts 2,600 jobs, closes several plants
Recently, German chemical giant BASF Group also announced that it will cut 2,600 jobs, or about 2% of its global workforce, and ended its share buyback program early to save costs. BASF said the first batch of plant closures, including two ammonia plants and related fertilizer plants, will result in 700 job cuts at its main plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
Ludwigshafen is BASF's largest integrated research site, which has considerable capacity for chemicals such as BDO, PPG, PTMEG, caprolactam and acrylic acid, and BASF's move to close several production units will also have a significant impact on global supply.
