Over capacity, Olin shut down the epoxy resin plant!

Olin announced on March 21 that it will cease operations at its Cumene plant in Terneuzen, the Netherlands, as well as solid epoxy production at its Gumi, South Korea, and Guaruja, Brazil facilities. Olin's results for the first quarter of 2023 are expected to include restructuring charges of approximately $57 million related to these plans, of which approximately $15 million of the restructuring charges are non-cash asset impairment charges. The cash portion of these costs is expected to be paid over the next three years.

"This is another step in realigning our global epoxy assets to the most cost-effective asset base to support our strategic operating model," said Scott Sutton, Olin's chairman, president and chief executive officer. Our epoxy business continues to experience weak global demand and oversupply of epoxy resins. Oilon will continue to consider "additional actions to right-size our business to achieve the reinvestment economics of our epoxy portfolio."

The closure of Olin's epoxy resin plant is not the first time Olin has shut down its epoxy resin operations. In 2022, Olin's epoxy resin business experienced a decline in revenue and continued production cuts. In March of the first half of the year, Olin stopped integrated epoxy production at its Stade plant in Germany. It also cut production of epoxy resins and related upstream inputs at its plants in Freeport, Texas, and Guaruja, Brazil, before resuming production in Germany in May.