Romanian firm Rompetrol Petrochemicals will cut polymer production by 55% and shift 24% of its staff to part-time status in moves the company calls temporary and driven by the market, particularly polymer demand. Reported at the site, Financiarul.ro, the news regarding the chemical arm of the Rompetrol Group reflects the precipitous drop in resin demand impacting smaller players like Rompetrol, which will close installations with 60,000 tonnes of nominal capacity, as well as global resin titans like BASF and SABIC Innovative Plastics, which have also announced double-digit production cuts. Rompetrol will shut down the low-density and high-density polyethylene lines from Dec. 10 through Jan. 31, 2009.

NOVA Chemicals will temporarily shutdown its Beaver Valley styrenic polymers site in Monaca, PA due to lagging demand from the building and construction, durable goods, and automotive markets. The Beaver Valley site’s products include expandable polystyrene, as well as Arcel (polyethylene and polystyrene foam alloy) and Dylark (styrene-maleic co-polymers).