Slowing polycarbonate demand has led NexPoint Materials to close its Alabama manufacturing site early next year, company leaders announced Wednesday.
The polycarbonate resin and compounding plant will close near the end of the first quarter of 2027, the Houston-based company said in a release. That production will be moved to the company’s facility in Mount Vernon, Indiana, to more closely align output with demand, company leadership said.
The move is part of a broader restructuring effort across the company, leadership said.
“By consolidating production at the Mount Vernon site, we intend to simplify our manufacturing footprint and establish a more focused, efficient operating model to serve our customers better,” CEO Sanjay Mishra said. “Our priority is to manage the transition carefully and continue supporting customers with our differentiated engineering thermoplastics portfolio, and strong materials and application development expertise.”
The company operates additional North American sites in Illinois, Missouri, Mexico and Brazil. Leadership said NexPoint will continue to operate those sites; the company didn’t specify a fate for its facilities in Spain and the Netherlands.
Most customers won’t be impacted by the change. Leadership said those who are will see varying implications depending on what they buy and their specific requirements, and employees will be dedicated to working directly with those customers to manage the transition.
The company launched in the 1950s as the engineering thermoplastics wing of Sabic. NexPoint launched with its flagship Lexan polycarbonate resin. It expanded under the Sabic umbrella to create seven different resin brands. Some of these blends, such as its Cycoloy PC/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) blend, contain post-consumer recycled PET from water bottles.
Earlier this year, it became a standalone company after its acquisition by Mutares SE & Co. KGaA, a German private equity holding company. It employed about 2,800 people worldwide prior to this announcement; a company spokesperson didn’t respond to a question about how many employees will be impacted by the closure.
“We recognize the significant impact this decision has on people who work at our site and their families. Many employees have dedicated decades to the site and have demonstrated a strong commitment to their work,” Mishra said. “This makes the decision especially difficult, even though it is necessary. We are committed to treating everyone with respect, communicating transparently as plans are finalized, and managing the transition safely and responsibly.”
The company’s release said NexPoint will continue to serve customers across all of its thermoplastics lines after the closure, including ABS, acrylonitrile styrene acrylate and polybutylene terephthalate.
