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Cabot Shuts Campana Carbon-Black Plant as Argentina’s Tire Crisis Deepens

The shutdown leaves Argentina’s tire makers dependent on imported carbon black.

Overview

  • Cabot Argentina, which confirmed Thursday it had begun dismantling the site, closed its 64-year-old Campana factory that made carbon black for tires.
  • The decision affects about 150 jobs, including 90 plant employees and roughly 60 indirect roles in security, catering, laundry and maintenance.
  • Carbon black is a petrochemical powder that strengthens rubber in tires, and Cabot was the country’s only large-scale local source, so manufacturers will now import the input.
  • Unions protested at the plant gates and pressed provincial labor officials for talks over severance and unpaid wages as they seek support for affected workers in Campana.
  • The move follows FATE’s February 18th tire plant closure that cut about 920 jobs, with rising imports from Asia, higher energy costs and weaker demand fueling a wider industrial pullback across the Zárate-Campana corridor.