CEO says company must adjust to industry changes
German site with 260 staff to close
Noncore areas to be discontinued

BERLIN, Oct 11 Reuters Germany39;s Evonik will scale back its adhesives and health care lines to focus on core assets, it said on Friday, shedding other operations including a polyester business and a production line for keto acids in Hanau.

The group, whose chemicals are used in products from autos and animal feed to Pfizer and BioNTech39;s COVID vaccine, in March announced up to 2,000 job cuts, the majority in Germany, by 2026 to reduce costs by 400 million euros 437.3 million annually.

Germany39;s chemicals industry suffered heavily throughout 2023 due to high production costs and weak demand as inflation rose, and the first signs of recovery seen in the first quarter of this year have begun to fade away.

Our industry is undergoing fundamental structural change worldwide, said CEO Christian Kullmann. We will align all our resources with our strongest businesses.

Evonik said on Friday its future health care business will focus on lipids for mRNA and gene therapies, drug delivery systems and cell culture ingredients. Its coating and adhesive resins business will consist of liquid polybutadienes and specialty acrylics.

Production of keto acids at the specialty chemical maker39;s site in Hanau, Germany, would be stopped at the end of next year, affecting some 260 employees, it added.

The company is still evaluating its options for its sites in…