Rehau closes pipe plant in Cisnadie

Rehau Polymer, the Romanian subsidiary of German group Rehau, will close its plastic pipes plant in Sibiu in May, after investing around 10 million euros since 2003 in developing the plant, and will drop 32 of its 37 employees due to the low volume of sales recorded in the last year. After suspending production, the company will refocus its commercial activity on other civil engineering and infrastructure segments, such as sewerage, heat distribution, water management systems, systems used in the geothermal energy and biomass sector. "Amid a deepening of the economic crisis and the local market shifting to low quality standards and small prices, the advantages of Rehau's local production of PVC and PE pipes in Sibiu have proven insufficient for it to continue to operate the Cisnadie plant. The decision to suspend its operations at the end of May 2010 was made in view of streamlining international distribution and of cutting costs. The employees affected by this step will have the company's support to find another job," says Emil Pop, general manager of Rehau Polymer. The company's turnover fell by 30% last year, to around 45 million euros, but company representatives say compared with the massive declines recorded in their sectors, the sales decline was lower than anticipated.