Building materials supplier CEMEX has announced a proposed mothballing of one of its UK cement plants during the third quarter of 2020.
The proposal may result in redundancies of all company employees currently based at the South Ferriby cement plant in Barton-upon-Humber, North Lincolnshire, England.
The current cement drivers based at South Ferriby are not immediately affected, but CEMEX UK plans to review optimal haulage provision.
CEMEX will shortly commence a process of collective consultation with affected employees. A final decision will be announced when complete.
The proposal to mothball the South Ferriby plant comes after an analysis of the company’s European cement supply chain. CEMEX says it remains committed to the UK and its European business, which is one of the company’s largest regions and will continue to have a strong national presence. This proposal will, says the company, allow it to optimise the network it has available across the region. This is said to be part of an ongoing strategy to strengthen the CEMEX portfolio and secure its place as a global leader in the industry.
CEMEX stresses that the coronavirus pandemic has not influenced the decision to consider mothballing the South Ferriby site.
Customers will be supplied from the company’s existing cement network. CEMEX says its supply chain plan and commercial management will ensure that customer service will be maintained at all times. The company says it will continue to supply high-quality products in line with customer expectations.
A spokesperson said: “Strategic growth in the UK will be focused in the future on those markets most attractive to CEMEX, such as the broader metropolitan markets where demand and profitability will be strongest. CEMEX invested more than £52m in new capital projects during 2019, alongside significant ongoing investment into the UK cement business, demonstrating the continued importance of this area to the company.”
