Carboclor, a maker of MTBE and other products in Argentina, said Wednesday it has extended a suspension of 24 workers for an additional week as a labor union-led blockade continues to prevent production.
The company extended the suspension through August 8 from a previously planned August 1, according to a filing with the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange. This will provide more time for the situation with the unions "to normalize," it said.
Union members started blocking Carboclor's plants in Campana, Buenos Aires province, on July 12 after the company fired 128 workers as part of a restructuring process after four straight years of financial losses.
Carboclor filed for bankruptcy protection in December, and has since started to work with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security on a plan to pull out of the financial crisis. Part of this restructuring plan is to lay off workers and close its Campana plants for making oxygenated solvents and aliphatic and aromatic solvents. The company instead plans to focus its business on storage and logistics at its port terminal.
According to company data, Carboclor has capacity to produce 151,600 mt/year of products, including 33,000 mt/year of MTBE, 45,400 mt/year of isopropyl alcohol and 13,000 mt/year of secondary butyl alcohol.
Carboclor's losses widened to Peso 266.9 million ($15.2 million) in 2016 from Peso 68.5 million in 2015, and it lost another Peso 27.2 million in the first quarter of 2017, according to company data.
Uruguay's state oil company ANCAP indirectly controls Carboclor, while the rest is traded publicly. ANCAP has said it wants to sell its 75% indirect stake in the company.
