ArcelorMittal Galati forecasts production cuts and plans layoffs

ArcelorMittal Galati, Romania-based subsidiary of the world's largest integrated metals and mining company ArcelorMittal, forecasts a reduction in its production output to a maximum of three million mt of steel products per year by 2012, said the head of the Solidaritatea Trade Union at ArcelorMittal Galati, Gheorghe Tiber.
 
Accordingly, the forecasted production cut will be equivalent to about 32 percent of the 4.4 million mt of steel products produced in 2007. In May 2008, ArcelorMittal Galati was targeting an annual production output of seven-to-eight million mt of steel by 2014, which became unrealistic under the impact of the current global economic crisis.
 
In addition, ArcelorMittal Galati's management has suggested a series of new anti-crisis measures aimed at cutting costs. Accordingly, as of March 1, workers may be forced to take ten days of next year's leave, be sent on temporary layoff by rotation and receive 75 percent of their salaries, or work only four days a week.
 
Moreover, ArcelorMittal Galati unveiled on December 12 a voluntary layoff scheme, effective through March 31. Currently, around 1,850 workers have signed up for the scheme, of which 500 have are soon to be released from work.
 
According to ArcelorMittal Galati's human resources manager Ionel Bors, in line with the company's reorganization program, up to 2012 the number of employees at the plant is to be reduced to 10,000 from the current 13,700. The program was initially planned to be implemented by 2014.
 
The organizational chart of ArcelorMittal Galati's leading structures will also suffer changes, the plant opting for a management focused on profit centers (products) instead of a management focused on production capacities.