Maastricht, November 05, 2019 – ARLANXEO, a leading synthetic rubber company, announced today that it intends to realign its production network of Keltan® Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) elastomers to improve competitiveness and harmonize technology platforms across the Keltan® EPDM portfolio.

As a result, ARLANXEO intends to close its Keltan® production unit in Orange, Texas in Q2 2020. ARLANXEO will strive to limit the impact of the closure by working in close cooperation with all affected stakeholders, both internally and externally. ARLANXEO will endeavour to minimize involuntary separations and to provide alternative opportunities for those affected by the closure.

Christian Widdershoven, Executive Vice President High Performance Elastomers (HPE) and member of ARLANXEO´s Executive Leadership team: “We realize that the closure of ARLANXEO´s Keltan® EPDM unit will have a deep impact on our people in Orange. Taking care of our employees that devoted time and efforts for the company over the last decades will be our first priority.” With regard to customers, Chretien Rooijakkers, Vice-President Marketing & Sales HPE adds: “Our teams will support our customers in North America, and around the globe, to make their transition to our specifically developed alternative Keltan® grades as smooth as possible”.

ARLANXEO intends to continue supporting its customers within North America and to retain its production presence in the US with its Butadiene Rubber (BR) and Hydrogenated Nitrile Butadiene Rubber (HNBR) production units at its Orange, Texas site.

About ARLANXEO

ARLANXEO is a world-leading synthetic rubber company with sales of around EUR 3.2 billion in 2018, about 3,900 employees and a presence at over 20 sites in 10 countries. The company’s core business is the development, manufacturing and marketing of high-performance rubber for use in, for example, the automotive and tire industries, the construction industry, and the oil and gas industries.

Press release from Arlanxeo