The plant in Bhopal where the disaster happened started to produce 'Carbaryl' in 1977. Carbaryl is mainly used as an insecticide. At first, the production was 2,500 tonnes per year. There was no problem, as the plant had been designed for an output of 5,000 tonnes. At the beginning of the 1980s, Carbaryl did not sell very well. For this reason, the owners of the plant started to cut the costs. This included employing fewer people, doing maintenance less frequently, and using parts that were made of lower-grade steel. Closing the plant was being considered as well. When the disaster happened, there was no production at the plant because there was a surplus amount of material on the market. 