Jobs on line in Qenos factory closure
Major plastics maker Qenos is quietly preparing plans to close its Australian manufacturing plants by the end of the year, sources say, in what would be a major blow to the manufacturing sector and would put hundreds of jobs at risk.
Qenos has reportedly not formally informed its workforce of any closure planning, and declined to comment on Thursday over its financial position or the direction of any review of its operations.
Qenos runs major plants in Melbourne’s Altona and Sydney’s Botany Bay. The company’s Sydney plant was hit by the near-collapse of its cooling towers in February 2023, with the facilities out of action for much of the year.
But sources say a leaked email, recently circulated among some staff, suggested Qenos could close its operations by the end of the year as a result of ongoing losses at the plastics manufacturer.
Any closure of its plants could affect other Australian manufacturers, given the polyethylene produced by the company is used in food packaging and moulded plastic products such as water tanks, wheelie bins and in other industries.
Qenos, owned by China National Chemical, booked a $79.7m loss in 2022, according to the most recent financial statements filed to ASIC by the company, following a $320.4m loss the previous year – which came partly as the result of the company’s closure of a number of its Victorian manufacturing lines in 2021.
Qenos’s primary problem has been Exxon’s 2021 closure of its Altona refinery, which cut off the supply of LPG to its nearby ethylene and polyethylene plants, forcing it to mothball two of its four production lines.