PHILADELPHIA - Rohm and Haas Co. announced several facility-consolidation and shutdown moves as part of the company's ongoing cost-cutting program aimed at boosting financial performance.

Rohm and Haas said it will halt manufacturing operations at the company's Chicago Heights, IL, emulsions plant, with production to be shifted to the company's nearby Kankakee IL, facilities.

Emulsions manufactured at the Chicago Heights plant are used in interior and exterior house paints, industrial coatings, and cement modifiers.

In moves involving the company's North American Adhesives and Sealants business, Rohm and Haas said it will relocate its Research and Technical Center in Woodstock, IL, to a new location in the Chicago area, and consolidate manufacturing facilities currently located at Ringwood, IL, and West Alexandria, OH. The consolidation will result in the closing of the company's Elk Grove Village, IL, plant by the end of 2002.

The company also said it will discontinue manufacturing operations at its Greenville, SC, plant, and consolidate production of polymers used in graphic-arts printing-ink and varnish products at plants in Ringwood, IL, and Dewsbury, UK.

Combined, the actions are expected to result in the elimination of 60 to 70 employment positions, the company said. The moves are part of Rohm and Haas's worldwide program of streamlining its organizational structure, work processes, manufacturing and other operations to improve financial performance.