Staff at Teesside chemicals company Huntsman Pigments have been told workers will face the axe.
The company, which employs around 780 staff on Teesside, is cutting a number of external contractor jobs at its Greatham manufacturing site to “remain competitive in the global marketplace.”
Huntsman has refused to comment on reports from an unconfirmed source, claiming around 40 jobs are to go - with plans for more “in the coming months.”
A company spokesperson said: “We are reducing the number of external contractors at Greatham site at this time.
“We have take this action to help us remain competitive in the global marketplace.”
The company employs around 480 at its Greatham site on Tees Road, near Hartlepool, which produces titanium dioxide pigments used in thousands of industrial and consumer products.
Headquartered in Wynyard, where its pigments innovation centre is based, the company’s sites include Wilton and Chester-le-Street. The company generates almost $1bn of revenues a year from seven manufacturing sites that employ around 2,500 people worldwide.
Last year Huntsman Pigments celebrated 80 years since the production of its first ton of titanium dioxide pigment, which was made at its Billingham facility in July 1934.
The titanium dioxide it makes can be found in products worldwide including decorative paints, industrial coatings for bridges, ocean liners, cars and construction materials, cosmetics, printed circuit boards and even food.
In 2012, the company invested £17m - including £2.7m from the government’s Regional Growth Fund - in new equipment.
The company’s owners, the $11bn Huntsman Corporation, bought Rockwood Holdings’ performance additives and titanium dioxide (TiO2) businesses last October, in a £1.3bn deal.
Bosses said at the time the move could more than double its annual turnover and create jobs on Teesside.
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