Washington: Many US chemical factories are pulling down their shutters and transferring production to Europe and China to meet the high cost of natural gas, rendering thousands of Americans jobless.

The US chemical industry is in a "crisis" as it is squeezed not only by cheap foreign competition but also by soaring energy costs. There is no new investment in natural gas and prices of natural gas have doubled in the last few years, 'The Washington Post' reported.

Across the country, one in every 10 chemical-related jobs have vanished in the past five years. Nearly 100,000 workers have lost their jobs in this period. There would have been more losses but for a surge in pharmaceuticals.

"Right now, we have got big operations just shutting down because they cannot compete on the world market. We have had shutdowns before but they have always been temporary. We have not seen anything like this before," Louisiana Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco told the 'Post'.

The US chemical industry's eight-decade run as an exporter has ended, with a $ 19 billion trade surplus in 1997 becoming a $ 9.6 billion deficit last year, according to the American Chemical Council.

In Nitro, West Virginia, the Flexsys chemical plant will begin tearing down the factory soon after its 75th anniversary this month, eliminating 205 jobs, the report said. The plant is closing because a sister plant in Belgium costs less to operate.

In nearby Charleston, Union Carbide has cut its workforce by half to about 1,200 people in the past three years. Bayer Ag is shutting one of its two Charleston area plants.

DR William Jewell, vice president, Energy, Dow Chemicals in Houston, which has closed four major chemical factories in North America and replaced them with production from Germany, the Netherlands, Kuwait, said, "These jobs don't leave the US because of labour costs. It is very hard to have vitality in manufacturing and it is very hard to have strong growth in jobs if you don't have a competitive infrastructure anymore. You can't just wish these jobs back."

Chemical jobs tend to be so well-paying in the $ 50,000 to $ 70,000 range - that they are virtually impossible to replace in the communities that lose them, said David E Dismukes of the Centre for Energy Studies at Louisiana State University.

Every time a factory cuts back or shuts down, the impact ripples out through the suppliers, restaurants and car dealerships that surround it.

In 24 months, from January 2001 to December 2002, West Virginia's chemical workforce declined nearly 17 per cent to 12,000 people, Hicks said.

In less than four years, the report said Bayer has increased the plant's output by 20 per cent without adding any employees. It has also cut energy consumption by nine per cent since last year.

Nonetheless, its costs are up 25 per cent over the past five years. It is finding it harder and harder to compete with imports because of the high cost of raw material.