LEVERKUSEN, Germany - Bayer MaterialScience L.L.C. announced plans to close an aromatic polyisocyanate production unit at the company's New Martinsville, W.Va., site by the end of the first quarter of next year. The plant manufactures the company's Desmodur CB products, used in general industrial, wood and magnetic-tape coatings.

Don Hummel, head of the Coatings, Adhesives and Sealants business for Bayer MaterialScience NAFTA, said demand in the NAFTA market for Desmodur CB had dropped significantly over the last several years. "The current market size does not justify domestic manufacture of this product line any longer," he said. Bayer said it plans to supply an equivalent product, Desmodur L, to the North American market from a plant in Leverkusen, Germany.