Orion to trim capacity on two continents

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Carbon-black maker plans to shutter up to five production lines in EMEA and the Americas as it pivots investment to its most efficient plants.

Orion, a leading carbon-black manufacturer, has unveiled a plan to discontinue production at three to five of its lines at multiple facilities in the Americas and EMEA before the end of the year.

While the company did not specify which facilities will be affected, it cited a strategy to focus investment on higher-performing production lines — boosting their reliability and output — while rationalizing underperforming assets.

“Recently introduced U.S. tariffs, the EU anti-dumping investigation and continued tire-capacity investment in both regions should help reverse the local tire-manufacturing share loss,” said Orion CEO Corning Painter. “However, given the uncertain timing of this recovery, we are choosing to take this action now.”

Formed in 2011 from Evonik Industries’ carbon-black divestiture, Orion supplies carbon-black powders and pellets for tires, coatings, inks, batteries and the coloration and modification of plastics and elastomers.

The group operates 15 plants across three continents. One of Europe’s key sites is in Italy, where a new reactor with 25,000-tonne annual capacity came online three years ago. The company’s main production hub is in Cologne, Germany — one of the first facilities of its kind, launched 160 years ago — while four additional plants are located in the United States. Overall, Orion employs about 1,600 people.

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