US Tronox cost-cutting will include 68 jobs

23 May 2008 01:09  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US pigment maker Tronox will trim 68 positions from its US work force as part of its effort to reduce second-quarter expenses, the company said on Thursday.

About half of the positions have been vacated, and a hiring freeze continues, said chairman and chief executive Tom Adams.

The world's third largest maker of titanium dioxide (TiO2), suspended quarterly dividends in mid-May as part of its effort to combat escalating costs and its inability to gain North American price increases during the last 10 months.

Further efforts to cut expenses will include suspending its employee incentive programme and matching 401K contributions, which should reduce the company's 2008 costs not associated with production by about $9m (€5.7m) to a range of $104m-108m, Adams said.

Tronox also recently faced troubled restarts at its plants in Uergdingen, Germany, and Kwinana, Western Australia. Those problems alone are expected to have a pre-tax impact of $10m-12m for the quarter, Adams said.

Like other titanium dioxide (TiO2) producers, Tronox has also dealt with escalating energy, freight and chemical costs and downward pressure on European pricing due to rising exports from North America stemming from weak domestic demand and the strong euro, Adams said.

First-quarter losses for Tronox shrank to $1.4m from $9m in first-quarter 2007.

($1 = €0.63)

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By: Larry Terry
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