ZACHARY - A chemical plant in East Baton Rouge will shut down later this year.

BASF confirmed Tuesday it is shutting down its Zachary site, which it bought from Novolyte Technologies in 2012. 

A spokesperson says the company told employees, state, and local governments about the shutdown in April 2018. Around half of the 54 employees have already been placed at the BASF plant in Geismar where the company employees about 1,100 of its own employees and about 500 contractors.

The plant, which produces glycol ethers/glycol diethers used in a large array of products, is still producing and will continue until April. Officials say the company will be completely shut down by the end of the year.

This news comes shortly after Georgia-Pacific announced it was laying off more than 600 people at its Port Hudson paper mill.