In this 2010 staff file photo, BASF employee Adam Cagle loads an international bound vessel with synthetic latex while at the Amnicola Highway plants in Chattanooga.Chemical maker BASF to cut 6,000 jobs
Chemical maker BASF says it will drop 6,000 jobs by the end of 2021 in what it calls an “organization realignment” that aims to streamline administration and simplify its corporate structure.
The German company, which employs about 300 workers at its Tennessee plants in Chattanooga and Sparta, said in a news release that the restructuring would save 300 million eru ($340 million) as part of an ongoing efficiency program that is expected to add 2 billion euros to annual earnings from 2021 onward. The company said it aim to have smaller corporate headquarters and a stronger role for regional operations.
BASF is based in Ludwigshafen, Germany, and makes chemicals for the plastics industry, industrial materials and pigments, food and animal feed ingredients and farm chemicals. The company reported having 122,400 employees in 2018, with 75,000 in Europe and 20,000 in North America.
Former Equifax executive jailed for insider trading
A former Equifax executive who sold stock a week and a half before the company announced a massive data breach was sentenced Thursday to serve four months in federal prison for insider trading.
Jun Ying, former chief information officer of Equifax’s U.S. Information Solutions, pleaded guilty in March. His prison time is to be followed by a year of supervised release, and he was also ordered to pay about $117,000 in restitution and a $55,000 fine. The Securities and Exchange Commission also levied insider trading charges against Ying, who has agreed to settle that case, prosecutors said in a court filing last week.
Equifax disclosed the breach Sept. 7, 2017. The Atlanta-based credit reporting company ultimately revealed that the personal information of more than 145 million people had been exposed.
Fisher-Price recalls 71,000 infant sleepers
Fisher-Price has recalled 71,000 inclined sleeper accessories because infants can roll from their backs to their stomachs on inclined sleep products, risking injury or death.
There have been no reported injuries or deaths related to the sleeper accessory with Fisher-Price’s Ultra-Lite Day & Night Play Yards, but more than 30 infant fatalities have been reported on other, similarly inclined sleep products including the Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleeper.
A government consumer protection agency said that consumers should immediately stop using the inclined sleeper and contact Fisher-Price for a refund or voucher.
The Fisher-Price play yard involved in the recall includes model numbers CBV60, CHP86, CHR06, CJK24 and DJD11.
Consumers can go to www.service.mattel.com and click on “Recalls & Safety Alerts” or call 800-432-5437 during regular business hours for more information.
Ford cuts 20% of European staff
Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it would cut about a fifth of its European workforce and shut down five plants as the company deals with weak demand for its cars.
The automaker, which has struggled to turn a profit in Europe, said that about 12,000 of its 65,000 workers across Europe would lose their jobs, with most being offered voluntary separation programs.
The job reductions were announced along with plans to build more electrical vehicles in the region, as part of “a new business model” to streamline the company’s European operations.
Ford is closing three plants in Russia, one in France and another in Britain. It will also sell a plant in Slovakia, leaving it with 18 facilities in the area by 2020. It will also consolidate two headquarters in Britain and move them to one location.
Mortgage rates fall; 30-year loan at 3.73%
U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell this week. It was the seventh decline in the past nine weeks for the key 30-year, fixed-rate loan, which reached its lowest level since November 2016.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday the average rate on the benchmark 30-year mortgage fell to 3.73% from 3.84% last week. By contrast, a year ago the rate stood at 4.55%.
The average rate for 15-year, fixed-rate home loans slipped this week to 3.16% from 3.25%.
The historically low levels marked by mortgage rates in this spring’s homebuying season have brought a surge in interest by prospective buyers and homeowners looking to refinance. Total mortgage applications rose 1.3% in the week ended June 21 from a week earlier, while refinance applications increased 3%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
More Americans signed contracts to buy homes last month compared with April, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday, a sign that buyers may be ready to take advantage of low mortgage rates and stabilizing home prices.