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PPG announces restructuring effort, closure of Houston plant PITTSBURGH, Pa.—Global coat- ings manufacturer PPG has stated that it will be cutting more than 1,000 jobs in a restructuring effort that comes in the wake of rising raw material costs and the ouster of the company's con- sumer brands from a major home-im- provement box store. The projected layoffs were reported in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commis- sion, which notes that a pretax restruc- turing charge of $8,085 million will be r e c o r d e d i n t h e c o m p a n y ' s s e c - ond-quarter financial report. Most of that charge will go to employee sever- ance and other cash costs. About 1,100 employees will lose their jobs. The company said in the SEC filing that the move was brought on by a cus- tomer assortment change in its US ar- chitectural coatings business as well as sustained, elevated raw material infla- tion. PPG's Olympic paints and stains were removed from Lowe's stores in the first quarter of this year when the home-improvement giant inked an ex- clusive deal with The Sherwin-Wil- liams Co. PPG later announced a new deal with Home Depot to sell Olympic products. Home Depot is Lowe's pri- mary competitor, and the largest home-improvement retailer in the US. The layoffs will occur between now and the second quarter of 2019, and the company expects the restructuring to begin to pay off within two years. As part of additional ongoing efforts to optimize its supply chain footprint, PPG has also confirmed plans to shut down a Houston plant. The closure will impact 52 jobs, and cuts will begin on November 30 at the facility, which will officially close February 28, 2019. All affected employees will reportedly receive severance pay based upon years of service. The plant is part of PPG's ar- chitectural coatings business. AkzoNobel sells Specialty Chemical business AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands— In the culmination of a process an- nounced nearly a year ago, global coat- ings manufacturer AkzoNobel has an- nounced the $12.5 billion sale of its Specialty Chemicals business to The Carlyle Group and Singapore's sover- eign wealth fund GIC. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of this year. In the original announcement in April 2017, AkzoNobel detailed that the plan was to sell or list the chemicals business (which accounted for about a third of sales and profits) within the next year. At the time, analysts valued the division at approximately $9.9 billion, based on the company's 2016 operating profit. The separation of the Specialty Chem- icals business has been discussed for some time, but the formal announce- ment was seen as a response to repeated attempts at a takeover by rival com- pany PPG Industries, Pittsburgh, Pa., which began in March 2017 and were at times contentious. The transaction is still subject to cus- tomary closing conditions as well as relevant regulatory approvals. Akzo- Nobel acquired shareholder approval for the separation last November. OSHA releases hearing loss bulletin WASHINGTON, D.C.—OSHA re- cently released a new bulletin related to hearing loss, with special attention paid to ototoxicity. The new safety and health information bulletin, Prevent- ing Hearing Loss Caused by Chemical (Ototoxicity) and Noise Exposure, ex- plains that certain chemicals known as ototoxicants can cause hearing damage and balance problems upon exposure. Noise at the time of exposure can exac- erbate the problem in some cases, but ototoxicants can affect hearing even in environments without noise. Ototoxicants occur in substances such as some solvents used in paints and in chemical stripping and cleanup. Oto- toxic solvents include toluene, used as a paint thinner; ethylbenzene, used as a solvent in paints; pxylene, used in the polymerization of some polyesters; and methylstyrene, used in making plasti- cizers, resins, and polymers. Other sub- stances, including lead and organic tin compounds, can also act as ototoxi- cants. Employers can limit workers' ex- posure to ototoxicants by knowing what substances have potential ototoxic effects and by employing the appropri- ate personal protective equipment. Porvair Filtration Group acquires Keystone Filer FAREHAM, UK—Porvair Filtration Group has acquired Keystone Filter, a division of CECO Environmental Corp. (CECO). Keystone designs and manufactures filter cartridges and hous- ings for the chemical process and other industrial markets. As part of the cash acquisition, Porvair has entered into a transition services agreement with CECO to transfer the business to its plant in Ashland, Va., over the next few months. Porvair Filtration Group is an international leader in the development and supply of high performance, inno- vative materials and solutions for appli- cations in filtration and separation. US lays harsh duties on Vietnam steel WASHINGTON, D.C.—The US Department of Commerce has ruled that some steel products imported from Vietnam in recent years actually originated in China and were diverted through the second country in order to circumvent antidumping duties. In re- sponse to the practice, the department announced that cold-rolled and corro- sion-resistant steel made in Vietnam with steel originally from China will be subject to harsh duties equal to those already imposed on Chinese steel. The new announcement cemented a pre- liminary ruling made in December. Imports of corrosion-resistant steel from Vietnam rose by a factor of 40, from $2 million to $80 million per year, after China was hit with harsh du- ties in 2015 in response to what the US calls dumping of steel products. Cold- rolled steel imports from Vietnam rose from $9 million to $215 million per year at the same time. Corrosion-resistant steel from Vietnam made with Chinese-origin substrates will face antidumping and countervail- ing duties of 199.3 percent and 39.05 percent, respectively. Cold-rolled steel from Vietnam made from substrates of Chinese origin will face antidumping and countervailing duties of 199.76 UPDATE: Industry POWDER COATING, August 2018 3