All Posts from November 12, 2013

ICL to lay off 130 workers

Israel Chemicals Ltd. has announced plans to lay off 130 workers from its Rotem Amfert subsidiary in an effort to cut costs. ICL said that the drop in phosphate and fertilizer prices necessitated the move. ICL said that it hoped to propose early retirement to 100 long-time workers and reduce by another 30 the manpower levels at the company which has three plants in southern Israel which currently employ 1,200 workers.

ICL which reports its third quarter results on Wednesday is expected to show losses in the phosphate and fertilizer sector. An ICL statement said that the company had swung into losses due to high production costs which are substantially higher than those in Morocco, Kazakhstan, Russia and Saudi Arabia. The statement went on to say that Rotem Amfert is facing one of the worst crises in recent years.

A union leader at Rotem Amfert said in a radio interview that every three to four years there is a slowdown in the fertilizer market and the management has never talked about layoffs and significant cuts in the number or workers. He added that every management failure can’t be placed on the workers.

Yesterday ICL workers including those at Rotem Amfert shut down four ICL subsidiaries in southern Israel as part of the protest against management plans to implement a reorganization plan. They are demanding that management hold talks with them about planned changes. The workers are threatening to intensify their sanctions.

The plan was announced in August by ICL CEO and President Stefan Borgas and includes efficiencies that would lead to a savings of $400 million over three years.

LSB taps SAIC to build acid plants

LSB Industries Inc. today announced that a subsidiary in its Chemical Business entered into agreements with SAIC Constructors LLC to construct a 360,000 st/y nitric acid plant and a 40,000 sty nitric acid concentrator plant at an LSB subsidiary’s site in El Dorado, Ark. The agreements provide for SAIC to manage the construction of the plants. The obligations under the agreements are guaranteed by each party’s parent company.

The total cost of the plants is estimated to be approximately $120 million. The plants are expected to be completed by mid-2015, subject to timely receipt of environmental permits and assuming no unexpected delays.

SAIC has already signed on to build an anhydrous ammonia plant at the site.