Indian unit in UK pondering job cuts to face downturn
Friday, 12 December 2008
LONDON, Dec 11 (PTI): Faced with economic downturn, a Wales-based aluminium roll company owned by Indian aluminium major Hindalco is likely to announce job cuts to cope with falling demand.
Novelis, based in Newport, has started a 90-day consultation with staff and unions to review its operations following a drop in recent sales. Company officials also do not rule out its closure.
Novelis is a wholly owned subsidiary of India's Hindalco Industries Ltd, Asia's largest integrated producer of aluminium and a leading producer of copper.
Novelis manufactures aluminium roll products for foil packaging, building material and industrial engineering products.
John Gardner, Novelis vice president for communications, told the local media "We have been in discussion and communications meetings with our team throughout the day.
"What we have started to do is to consult with our employees' unions to look at ways of saving money and reducing costs due to the economic conditions.
"Our order book is extremely low and weak, we are all seeing the economic situation and the climate in manufacturing is extremely influential on our order book. Consequently, the order book for the coming months is extremely weak.
"We have started a consultation to work through with our employees what measures can we come up with to get the plant through the current downturn and make us cost competitive through the long term.
"That could possibly involve redundancies but nothing is decided yet. We need to get into a consultation with the workforce. We are in a difficult situation, as I said, the order book is low and we have got to really work hard as a team to come up with a way forward for the plant and we will work hard to do that."
The company is expected to make a loss of eight million pounds during the current financial year.
Novelis, based in Newport, has started a 90-day consultation with staff and unions to review its operations following a drop in recent sales. Company officials also do not rule out its closure.
Novelis is a wholly owned subsidiary of India's Hindalco Industries Ltd, Asia's largest integrated producer of aluminium and a leading producer of copper.
Novelis manufactures aluminium roll products for foil packaging, building material and industrial engineering products.
John Gardner, Novelis vice president for communications, told the local media "We have been in discussion and communications meetings with our team throughout the day.
"What we have started to do is to consult with our employees' unions to look at ways of saving money and reducing costs due to the economic conditions.
"Our order book is extremely low and weak, we are all seeing the economic situation and the climate in manufacturing is extremely influential on our order book. Consequently, the order book for the coming months is extremely weak.
"We have started a consultation to work through with our employees what measures can we come up with to get the plant through the current downturn and make us cost competitive through the long term.
"That could possibly involve redundancies but nothing is decided yet. We need to get into a consultation with the workforce. We are in a difficult situation, as I said, the order book is low and we have got to really work hard as a team to come up with a way forward for the plant and we will work hard to do that."
The company is expected to make a loss of eight million pounds during the current financial year.