Announcements
CPH Group offers hand for school building project in Uetikon
The Canton of Zurich is to build a cantonal school on the site of CPH Chemie + Papier Holding AG's chemicals division in Uetikon am See in a few years' time. CPH can continue to produce at the existing site for the time being and is considering relocating production to the surrounding area or abroad.
Perlen, 22 March 2016 – The Canton of Zurich intends to build the cantonal school planned for the right bank of Lake Zurich on the site of CPH Chemie + Papier Holding AG (formerly CU Chemie Uetikon) in Uetikon am See. CPH is selling an area of 65,500 m2 of industrial land to the canton for this purpose. The site is currently occupied by buildings for CPH’s research and development, production and administration activities. The purchase price of CHF 52 million includes a contribution from CPH towards the disposal of the contaminated excavated material and the contaminated building fabric that will arise from the conversion. CPH is also contributing to the remediation of the lake bed in front of the site. The canton will retain CHF 32 million of the purchase price for this purpose. The canton anticipates a planning phase of several years for the school building project. CPH can continue to produce on the site and is initially leasing the premises from the Canton of Zurich for two years.
CPH’s Chemistry Division produces molecular sieves, chromatography gels, deuterated solvents and fertilizers at its Uetikon site. Zeochem AG and CU Deutero + Agro AG currently employ a total of 113 people in Uetikon.
Nothing will change for customers, as production will continue even after the closure of the site, with the exception of fertilizer production. To this end, the Chemicals division is examining the possibility of relocating production to the surrounding area or abroad. Fertilizer production will be discontinued in the medium term. This will affect eleven jobs.
Zeochem has further production sites in the USA and China, where molecular sieves are also manufactured. “The recently completed acquisition of Jiangsu ALSIO Technology in China provides us with new capacities for the cost-effective production of standard products. This will enable us to significantly increase our competitiveness,” comments Peter Schildknecht, CEO of the CPH Group. “In the medium term, we plan to relocate the production of molecular sieves to China and the USA. This will affect 58 employees at the Uetikon site. We have drawn up a redundancy plan and will support the employees in their job search.” Some of the job cuts will be absorbed through early retirement. The relocation of production for the gels and deutero product areas to the immediate vicinity of Uetikon is being examined. A decision is expected to be made in summer 2016.
“We can look back on almost 200 years of industrial production in Uetikon and are reluctant to part with the site where the company was founded,” says Peter Schaub, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CPH. “We are delighted to now be opening a new chapter together with the Canton of Zurich and securing the long-term development of the entire site for future generations.”
The site with direct access to Lake Zurich begins at the port of Uetikon and extends to the neighboring municipality of Meilen. The site area of 65,500 m2 is currently used for industrial purposes by CPH Group companies. Part of it is also leased to other industrial companies. The entire factory site, where various chemical products have been manufactured since 1818, has been listed as a witness to industrial production in the Federal Inventory of Sites of National Importance (ISOS) since 2012.
Contacts
CPH Chemie + Papier Holding AG
Dr. Peter Schildknecht, CEO, +41 41 455 87 57, investor.relations@cph.ch
Christian Weber, Head of Corporate Communications, +41 41 455 87 51, medien@cph.ch