By Ulrike Dauer
German specialty chemicals producer Lanxess AG (LXS.XE) plans to
axe up to 1,200 jobs in its latest cost-cutting plan announced this
summer, German daily Rheinische Post reports, citing people close
to the company.
Jobs will be shed in administration, marketing and in central
research and development, mainly at the Cologne and Leverkusen
sites, the newspaper reports.
The company is offering early retirement and severance payments
but can't rule out compulsory redundancies, according to the
report, which said Lanxess and labor representatives will discuss
the plans at a meeting Friday. The supervisory board will
deliberate on the matter next week, the newspaper said.
A Lanxess spokesman declined to comment on the report ahead of
the Nov. 6 investors day.
Lanxess in August unveiled a three-stage restructuring plan that
will reduce the number of business units to 10 from 14 by Jan. 1,
2015, and streamline global administrative jobs. It also reiterated
that it is examining strategic options for the rubber chemicals
business units' antioxidants and accelerators business lines,
saying a decision can be expected by the end of the third quarter
of 2014.
Downward price pressure in its synthetic rubber business is
expected to continue, Lanxess said in August. Lanxess had shed 870
jobs under a previous cost-cutting program aimed to counter falling
orders for synthetic rubber and volatile prices for raw materials.
The group currently employs 17,300 people.
Newspaper website: http://www.rp-online.de
(http://www.rp-online.de)
Write to Ulrike Dauer at ulrike.dauer@wsj.com