As of 1 April, 2,000 of the 12,000 employees will be laid off temporarily in rotating ten-day shifts, and they will receive 75 percent of their salary. “This decision has been made to adjust the company’s activity to the difficult economic conditions. There has been a dramatic decline in demand, which forced us to make this decision now,” said Dorian Dumitrescu, spokesman of ArcelorMittal Galati.
Petru Ianc, General Manager of the Ministry of Economy, and a specialist in the steel market, indicated that this type of measure is normal considering this industry’s difficult global situation. “It is a general matter worldwide: demand is extremely low and stocks are very large. The management must make decisions to balance this situation,” Ianc told Business Standard.
The complex’s management forecasts a maximum production of 1.5 million tons of steel, three times less than in 2007, the last year when the company’s revenues increased. The market is expected to rebound no sooner than 2010, when maximum production could reach three million tons of steel.
According to the firm’s financial report, the global leader posted net losses worth $2.63 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared to a profit of $3.8 bln in last year’s third quarter. Due to the decline on the main beneficiary markets, auto and steel, in the final three months of 2008, ArcelorMittal sales plunged globally by some 50 percent compared to the third quarter, to $22 bln.
