text: Japanese-owned chemical firm Sekisui Alveo said production at its Merthyr Tydfil Industrial Park plant will end by March 2018.
  The plant will be decommissioned in four stages over the next three years, the company said.
  It is part of a move to relocate production to Roermond in the Netherlands, it added.
  Alan Gunter, manufacturing director at the Merthyr Tydfil site, said the decision to decommission the plant had "not been taken lightly".
  "I am immensely proud of our highly professional workforce and I would like to thank them all for their commitment and dedication," he said.
  "We are aware that this is a difficult time for employees at the Merthyr Tydfil production plant and we will do everything to support them and their families during and after the plant's staged decommissioning.
  "We will also continue to collaborate with the local authorities in the coming months."
target: A foam factory in Merthyr Tydfil has announced it will close with the loss of 80 jobs.