Goodyear closes Tennessee tire plant, may signal reduced SBR demand
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has ceased production at its tire manufacturing facility in Union City, Tenn., the company said on Monday.
The tire market is a major consumer of petrochemicals such as styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR).
On February 10, Goodyear had announced its intention to close the plant by the end of 2011.
"When we announced our intention to close the plant, we expected the shutdown would occur by year-end," said CEO Richard J. Kramer. "Since then, the product transfers to the other Goodyear plants have been completed more quickly than expected.”
The action is consistent with plans outlined at the company's investor meeting earlier this year, the company said.
As a result of the accelerated closure and payments to approximately 1,800 associates under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, Goodyear expects to record additional after-tax charges of approximately $20 million, it said.
The majority of these additional charges will be recorded in the second quarter of 2011, the company said.
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