BOSTON (AP) - Cabot Corp., a specialty chemicals and materials maker, said Tuesday it will close a carbon black manufacturing plant in Waverly, W.Va., that employs 48.
Manufacturing operations will stop in March 2008 and customer shipments will continue through the middle of 2008.
Cabot, which says tire manufacturing generally is decreasing in North America and increasing in China, Asia-Pacific and South America, will take a pre-tax charge of about $22 million dollars over two years, with about $8 million recorded in fiscal 2007.
The company has 4,500 staffers in 45 manufacturing plants globally.
Carbon black is a crude oil refining byproduct used to reinforce rubber products.