MP joins attacks on US giant's Teesside plant closure
Apr 30 2009 By Andrew Mernin
THE decision to close the Elementis chromium plant in Stockton with the loss of 138 jobs is a betrayal of the workforce, MP Dari Taylor said today.
US-owned manufacturer Elementis had announced in February that it was looking to cut costs as its chromium sales fell and that its plant in Eaglescliffe was less efficient than its American chromium sites.
The company, which employs 1,500 people at 30 sites in eight countries, also said that its US site did not face the same competition from Asia as its UK plant and confirmed this week it would close in June.
The Stockton South MP, who joined the Unite union’s campaign to keep the facility running beyond June, was "angry" at what she called a "foolish" decision to abandon chromium production in Europe, leaving it reliant on Kazakhstan and China for supplies. "These are unreliable markets producing very low grade chromium oxide," she said. Ms Taylor added: "Over the years the workforce has modified and changed production lines.
"They have in every sense adapted to and accepted management requirements. Last year, they were incredibly profitable. The global credit crunch comes and car manufacture and house building - two of the core customers - go into the decline. But they know there’s going to be a pick-up. I think Elementis will learn to regret this."
Bob Bolam, regional officer for Unite, was at the works just hours after the announcement.
"The uncertainty is over, but it’s a sad day for Teesside. "It’s a British company abandoning the last chromium plant in the UK."
A spokesman for Elementis said it had no future plans to supply the UK market. A spokesman for Elementis said it had no future plans to supply the UK market. "We will not be producing any extra for the UK. A lot of it was low value intermediate products that went to the US to be turned into higher value. Europe is highly exposed to competitors, whereas the US is self sufficient."
Mrs Taylor said demand for value added processing on Teesside remained comparatively strong, but it was necessary to address the "sweat point" of smaller process industries who could not find funds to take good, research-based products to market.
She has requested a meeting with Technology Strategy Group chairman Sir John Denham on how Teesside could access funds for projects needing between £1m and £14m.
