Yet another blow to the Bayer MaterialScience LLC, near New Martinsville is happening as it has announced the closure of its Coatings, Adhesives and Specialties (CAS) resins operations.

This will affect 40 employees, according to a press release. A phone call to Bayer MaterialScience confirmed that this is in addition to the 70 employees that the company had announced in November that would be cut in 2009. This will make a total of 110 employees that will lose their jobs at the local Bayer plant.

Those 40 employees, according to the press release, will have the opportunity to explore employment within other parts of the company. The standard separation pay and benefit programs will apply to those who are displaced from the company.

The New Martinsville resins operations, which manufacture polyesters, polyurethane dispersions, and polyaspartic esters for use in the automobile, furniture, and construction industries, are scheduled to cease production by the end of 2009. In the future, sourcing of these products will be consolidated into various world-scale Bayer MaterialScience facilities.

The New Martinsville site will continue to manufacture a range of polyurethanes raw materials used in the same industries, plus Texin thermoplastic polyurethane which is used in the automobile, tool, sporting goods, and medical industries. The site employs about 300.

Bayer MaterialScience LLC is one of the leading producers of polymers and high-performance plastics in North America and is part of the global Bayer MaterialScience business with nearly 15,100 employees at 30 sites around the world and 2008 sales of 9.7 billion euros. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction, medical, and sports and leisure industries.