The Hamburg site currently employs about 50 people in the cosmetics and personal care products division. The site is scheduled to close in mid-2027. Its operations and technological expertise will be consolidated at the Essen Goldschmidtstraße site. Essen is already a key hub for the Care Solutions business line.
Evonik cites, among other reasons, fragmented production, administrative, and laboratory structures, as well as cost pressures from international competition, as the rationale for this consolidation. The Care Solutions business line is also affected by weak global economic conditions and ongoing margin pressure.
“At the same time, our production, administrative, and laboratory structures are too fragmented in some areas. This leads to unnecessarily high costs and weakens our competitiveness,” says Claus Rettig, interim CEO of Evonik.
Chlorosilane Production to Be Consolidated in Rheinfelden
The Bitterfeld site, which employs approximately 40 people, is scheduled to close at the end of April 2027. The site produces high-purity silicon tetrachloride. Evonik cites rising supply from Asia, increasing competitive pressure, and long-standing insufficient plant capacity utilization as the reasons for the closure.
Among other things, the company examined alternative operating concepts, capacity reductions, a temporary shutdown, and sale scenarios. These options did not offer any economically viable long-term prospects. In the future, customers will primarily be supplied from the Rheinfelden site.
Solutions for Approximately 90 Employees
Socially responsible solutions will be developed in collaboration with employee representatives for the approximately 90 employees in Hamburg and Bitterfeld. Discussions on the next steps will take place in the coming months.