June 4 (Reuters) - U.S.-based specialty chemicals maker

Celanese said on Thursday it would shut its engineered

materials plant in Ulsan, South Korea, and shift production to

sites in China and India as part of efforts to streamline

operations.

The company said manufacturing at the Ulsan site would cease

immediately, with volumes transferred to its facilities in

Nanjing and Shenzhen in China and Silvassa in India, as it looks

to cut costs.

The announcement comes as chemical companies face uneven

demand and margin pressure, particularly in industrial and

automotive end-markets, prompting them to rationalize capacity.

Supply disruptions following the Iran conflict have

tightened global chemicals markets, pushing plastics and polymer

prices to multi-year highs.

In March, Celanese increased prices for a range of

engineered materials products, citing global supply chain

disruptions.