The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Manufacturing (20 - 21) Manufacture of chemicals and pharmaceuticals 20.5 - Manufacture of other chemical products 20.59 - Manufacture of other chemical products n.e.c.
200 - 300 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
9 January 2026
Employment effect (start)
9 April 2026
Foreseen end date
Description
SABIC, the Saudi Arabian petrochemical multinational group, has announced the closure of its Lexan 1 plant in La Aljorra (Cartagena), which could result in the loss of between 200 and 300 jobs, according to the company’s works council (the final figure is still unclear). The decision follows the sale of the facility to Mutares, a German investment fund, as part of a wider restructuring of SABIC’s operations in Europe and America.
According to union representatives, the closure will have a severe impact, stressing the difficulty of reassigning many employees due to the workforce’s average age of around 50. In response, employees have begun protests at the plant gates, and demanding a social plan to mitigate the effects of the shutdown. Unions are preparing a series of industrial actions and strikes to increase pressure on the company, andf have called both the company and public authorities to intervene urgently to prevent massive layoffs and safeguard the region’s industrial base. Meanwhile, Mutares claims the acquisition will strengthen the international platform of the Spanish plant.
Eurofound (2026), SABIC España, Closure in Spain, factsheet number 203939, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/203939.
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