Reprieve for DuPont Factory

Automotive component and sealant manufacturer Dupont Performance Elastomers will reportedly retain their Rubbertown factory in Louisville, Kentucky until the end of the year. The company previously announced the facility would close by the end of March.

According to DuPont, the expansion of the company’s Pontchartrain plant near New Orleans, where the bulk of production from Louisville is destined to be transferred, has taken longer than planned. Extensive repair work needed in the region following hurricanes Rita and Katrina has led to a shortage of available labour, and as a result set deadlines have not been met.

This is the third occasion the plant has been given a reprieve. Closure of the facility by 2005 was announced back in 2002, and this was later postponed to late 2006.