WEST VIRGINIA, US: Bayer CropScience has announced “a phased turnover” of the company’s Institute (West Virginia, US) Industrial Park to Union Carbide, of plant activities, including utilities, emergency response and security, with full operation of the site by the company expected by mid-2016. Union Carbide Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dow Chemical Company.
The transaction includes transfer of the land as well as the majority of the site assets to Union Carbide. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. “Bayer will still have a presence at the Institute Industrial Park but now as a tenant through the on-going operation of the company’s thiodicarb production unit. We recently have made significant investment in this unit in order to meet on-going demand for our Larvin crop protection product,” said Jim Covington, Head of the Institute Industrial Park, Bayer.
Bayer took ownership of the Institute facility as part of its 2002 acquisition of Aventis CropScience. But its manufacturing presence at the site has declined over the past several years due to the company’s 2011 decision to close certain production units dedicated to carbamate chemistries.
“Without additional production capacity, Bayer CropScience does not have the critical mass needed to make continued ownership of the site economically viable. We expect some decline in Bayer employment at Institute over time. However, retirements and voluntary separations should account for essentially all departures,” said Covington.
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