US company Celanese leaves Belgium: ‘European regulations are penalizing us’

Brussels – “The intent to close our production operations was influenced by several factors, including the unfavorable climate for investment, rising energy costs, and strict and rapidly changing regulations in the chemical industry.” The US chemical company Celanese, which has been in Belgium since 1965, is leaving. It announced its decision to the Belgian government and various authorities, such as Belgian Prime Minister De Wever, Economy Minister David Clarinval, Consumer Protection Minister Rob Beenders, and Belgian MEP Hilde Vautmans. 

In a previously released press statement, Celanese announced its intention to cease production activities at its Lanaken plant dedicated to the production of acetate tows (needed, among other things, to manufacture cigarette filters) by 2026. The company’s decision “is the result of a comprehensive strategic review of its production footprint and business strategy and could have an impact on approximately 160 employees at the Lanaken site.” The intent to cease operations at Lanaken stems from “a strategic review to ensure the long-term sustainability of Celanese’s acetate business, which has faced challenging conditions, including declining demand and increasing uncertainty in the regulatory environment for tobacco products.” It has emerged that a key issue is the possibility that, at the upcoming COP11 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), to be held in Geneva on November 17–22, the EU could support and extend a complete ban on cigarette filters to the single market. Support is currently being discussed in Brussels.

For the US company, the closure reflects “several factors, including an unfavorable investment climate, rising energy costs, and stringent and rapidly changing regulations in the chemical industry. More specifically, our operations in Lanaken are under increasing pressure due to the global trend to tighten regulations on cigarette filters systematically,” the letter sent to the Belgian authorities states.