BASF plans 3600 job cuts at main German plant

11/23/04 - newratings.com

LONDON, November 23 (newratings.com) – German chemical giant, BASF AG (BAS), has announced its plans for about 3,600 job reductions at its main plant in Germany by the end of 2007, as part of its cost-cutting efforts.

The world's largest chemical maker said in a statement today that it had reached an agreement with the employee representative at its Ludwigshafen site regarding the planned job reductions. The agreement foresees about 32,000 employees at this plant by the end of 2007, from above 35,000 employees currently. BASF said that the company would try to avoid layoffs in its efforts to achieve the targeted job cuts, which represent about 10% of the total workforce at the site. The company seeks to achieve cost savings worth about €450 million at this German plant by the middle of 2005. BASF also announced a €6 billion capital spending plan for this plant through 2009 today.