Westlake Corp. to lay off 295 employees as it shuts four Gulf Coast plants

The shutdowns include a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plant at Westlake’s Aberdeen, Mississippi site, which has an annual capacity of about 1 billion pounds of suspension PVC resin. 

In Louisiana, the company will cease operations at a vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant at its Lake Charles North site with an annual capacity of approximately 910 million pounds, a diaphragm chlor-alkali unit at the Lake Charles South site producing around 825 million pounds of chlorine and 910 million pounds of caustic soda annually, and a styrene production plant at Lake Charles with an annual capacity of roughly 570 million pounds. 

The closures, scheduled to take place this month, will result in a workforce reduction of approximately 295 employees, according to the company. Westlake said it expects to incur about $415 million in pre-tax costs related to the shutdowns. 

This includes around $357 million in non-cash charges from accelerated depreciation, amortisation and asset write-offs, about $25 million in employee severance and separation costs, and approximately $33 million in other plant shutdown expenses.

In a presentation to investors on December 15, the company said its Performance and Essential Materials segment has been under pressure due to low market pricing, driven by overcapacity in certain products and an increase in lower-priced exports from Asia, according to the Houston Business Journal. 

As part of the restructuring, Westlake is also exiting the styrene business. Despite the closures, Westlake said seven North American chlorovinyl facilities will remain operational, and the company plans to continue supplying customers with PVC, VCM and chlor-alkali products from these sites. 

“Given the persistent, challenging market conditions facing the global commodities chemicals industry, as part of our evaluation of business operations, we have made the difficult decision to cease operation of three units within our North American Chlorovinyls business and cease operations of our Styrene manufacturing unit, located in Lake Charles, Louisiana. 

We will continue to supply our chlorovinyl customers with products produced at our other North American Chlorovinyls manufacturing facilities,” said Jean-Marc Gilson, president and chief executive officer of Westlake Corp.

“I want to recognize the dedication and contributions of all our employees, including the ones who will be leaving us. We appreciate their contribution over the years. We are committed to treating everyone impacted with respect and our focus is on supporting them through their transition.” 

Westlake is one of Houston’s largest chemical companies, with operations spanning building products, performance materials and essential chemicals. 

The closures reflect broader global chemical market pressures, including competition from lower-cost producers in Asia and the Middle East.