Inovyn, the 50:50 chlorvinyls joint venture of Ineos and Solvay, will shut its chloromethane plant in Runcorn, UK, from Mar. 1 2016 as it has decided to consolidate production at Tavaux, France, and Rosignano, Italy.

The company said the move is in response to declining demand in Europe. It does not expect to make any compulsory redundancies.

Inovyn CEO Chris Tane said the new operations strategy will ensure the company is best positioned to focus on and meet demand in core markets. “It will also significantly improve our cost base and help underpin our sustainable, competitive position as a European chloromethanes producer,” he added.

Closing the chloromethane plant also provides an opportunity for Inovyn to exploit the site’s increased availability of membrane chlorine capacity, the company said, without giving further details.

Inovyn said that, despite the closure, it would continue to offer the full range of methylene chloride grades, as well as chloroform, carbon tetrachloride and perchloroethylene.