Westlake Corporation announced plans to cease operations at certain North American chlorovinyl production facilities and its styrene manufacturing unit, with the closures expected to result in a workforce reduction of approximately 295 employees.

The company said it will cease operation of its polyvinyl chloride plant at its Aberdeen, Mississippi site, its vinyl chloride monomer plant at its Lake Charles, Louisiana North site and one of its diaphragm chlor-alkali units at its Lake Charles, Louisiana South site. Westlake also approved a plan to cease operation of its styrene production plant located at the Lake Charles, Louisiana site.

Cessation of operations at the affected facilities is expected to take place in December 2025. Westlake said it plans to continue supplying customers with PVC, VCM and chlor-alkali products from its seven other North American chlorovinyl facilities.

The company expects total pre-tax costs of approximately $415 million related to the closures, including noncash accelerated depreciation, amortization and asset write-off charges of approximately $357 million, employee severance and separation costs of approximately $25 million and other plant shutdown costs of approximately $33 million.

“Given the persistent, challenging market conditions facing the global commodities chemicals industry, as part of our evaluation of business operations, we have made the difficult decision to cease operation of three units within our North American Chlorovinyls business and cease operations of our Styrene manufacturing unit, located in Lake Charles, Louisiana,” said Westlake President and Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marc Gilson. “I want to recognize the dedication and contributions of all our employees, including the ones who will be leaving us. We appreciate their contribution over the years. We are committed to treating everyone impacted with respect and our focus is on supporting them through their transition.”

Westlake said it expects to recognize a substantial portion of the noncash charges and other related costs in the fourth quarter of 2025, with cash outflows expected over several years through completion of the anticipated closures.