Chemicals Giant Celanese to Cut Jobs

German industrial chemicals giant Celanese, a unit of US investment fund Blackstone, said it would slash around 1,000 jobs worldwide, nearly 10 percent of its workforce, in a rrestructuring drive. The company said it planned to exit the acetate filament business and would phase out production at two North American facilities, leading to cuts of about 10 percent of its total workforce. It will stop acetate flake production at its Rock Hill, South

Carolina, facility next year and halt production at its Edmonton, Canada, plant in late 2006 or early 2007. It will stop producing acetate tow in Edmonton in the middle of next year. Acetate flake is the raw material used to produce filament and tow. Acetate filament is used in garments and home furnishings, while acetate tow is used in a variety of filtering applications, Celanese said. Following its public takeover offer, Blackstone controls 83.6 percent of Celanese. Last year, the company posted turnover of $4.6 billion (€3.6 billion) and had a staff of 9,500. (AFP)