Evonik announced plans to close two smaller German sites by 2027, consolidating production and other activities at larger locations as the company seeks to reduce costs and improve competitiveness.

The Hamburg site, which employs about 50 people supplying products for the cosmetics and personal care industry, is scheduled to close by mid-2027. Activities and technical expertise will be consolidated at Evonik’s larger Essen-Goldschmidtstrasse site, which already houses a major portion of the company’s Care Solutions business.

Evonik said the cosmetics and personal care business is facing weak global demand and continued margin pressure in international competition.

The Bitterfeld site, which employs about 40 people producing chlorosilanes, is scheduled to close at the end of April 2027. The decision follows challenging market conditions for high-purity silicon tetrachloride, including increased supply from Asia and competitive pressure, Evonik said. Extended periods of lower plant utilization also have made economically viable operations difficult.

According to the announcement, the company evaluated alternatives including different operating models, capacity reductions, mothballing and a potential sale of the site but said none offered a sustainable long-term economic outlook.

Following the closure, Evonik said it plans to supply customers primarily from its Rheinfelden site in southern Germany. The chlorosilane business is part of the company’s Smart Effects business line.

“At the same time, our structures when it comes to production, administration, and laboratories are too fragmented in some areas,” Claus Rettig, interim chairman of Evonik’s Executive Board, said in a statement. “This leads to unnecessarily high costs and weakens our competitiveness.”

Evonik and employee representatives will negotiate arrangements for affected employees at both sites.

The site-consolidation plans come as Evonik continues to invest in other parts of its business. In August, the company announced plans to invest more than C$150 million (about $108 million) in a GMP manufacturing facility for lipid-based drug delivery systems in Vancouver, Canada. The facility is expected to more than triple manufacturing capacity at the existing operation, with drug product production planned to begin at the end of 2029.

Evonik also recently announced the start of operations at a 200,000-metric-ton-per-year hydrogen peroxide plant in Leshan, Sichuan Province, China. The plant, operated by Fuhua using Evonik technology, supplies industrial-grade hydrogen peroxide to regional markets and provides feedstock for an Evonik-Fuhua joint venture producing specialty grades.

Why it Matters

The closures illustrate how chemical producers are adjusting site footprints when individual facilities face sustained capacity utilization and competitive pressures. In Bitterfeld, Evonik specifically cited increased Asian supply, lower utilization and the economics of continued operation as factors in its decision.