Germany's Lanxess Plans To Shed Up To 1,200 Jobs--Report

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)

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