The company cited the need to reduce capacity to mitigate the effects of the current economic downturn and increases in raw material and energy costs for the move. The company will shut facilities in Macedonia and Avon Lake, Ohio; Plaquemine, La.; Commerce, Calif.; St. Peters, Mo.; and Suxxex, Wis. Plants in Quebec and the United Kingdom will also be closed. The closings are expected to be complete by the end of the first quarter 2009.

“Difficult decisions like these are taken very seriously,” said Stephen D. Newlin, chairman, president and CEO of Cleveland-based PolyOne. “After thorough study, it was determined that this capacity reduction is needed to improve our near-term operating efficiency, while advancing our long-term strategic position. We understand the impact of this announcement on affected employees, their families and local communities and are committed to handling these moves with great sensitivity.”

Production at the affected facilities, as well as several manufacturing lines, will be moved to a limited number of the company’s 30-plus remaining plants. The company expects to invest about $12 million in additional capital expenditures at its remaining locations to support the realignment.

PolyOne hopes the realignment enables it to improve the competitiveness of its operations and supply chain across many platforms and businesses.

“After conducting a thorough review of our entire operation, our business teams identified opportunities to further align our capacity and production assets to improve the effectiveness of our global manufacturing footprint,” said Thomas J. Kedrowski, senior vice president of operations and supply chain for PolyOne. “These changes also reflect our focus on specialization, which is shifting our portfolio away from non-value-added commodity applications toward more specialized solutions.”

For MORE NEWS BRIEFS, click here.