Ferro Corporation (Cleveland, Ohio / USA; www.ferro.com) is to close its plastics production plant in Rotterdam / The Netherlands as part of a further restructuring of its European plastics manufacturing. The company said the plastics production in Rotterdam will be consolidated into its existing operations in Almazora / Spain. The move, which will result in the elimination of about 44 jobs, is expected to be completed by the end of June and to generate annual pre-tax cost savings of about USD 5m per year. "We continue to take actions to optimise our cost structure around the world," said Peter Thomas, Ferro VP for polymer and ceramic engineered materials.

The company expects to record net charges of approximately USD 6m in the three months to 30 June 2010 relating to the restructuring. Closure of the Rotterdam plant is the latest step in a restructuring programme initiated in connection with Ferro’s equity offering in November 2009. In February, the company announced it was moving production from Castanheira / Portugal to Almazora – see Plasteurope.com of 25.02.2010.