THE world’s biggest steelmaker ArcelorMittal said yesterday it would slash about 2,400 jobs at its factory in the US state of Indiana by mid-January because of a drop in orders.
The announcement will be effective by the second-half of January, a company spokesman said, owing to ‘the current economic climate’.
"The measures come in the framework of a 40-per cent drop in production in North America," or slightly more than the average 35-per cent production cut which ArcelorMittal had estimated earlier this month for its factories worldwide.
ArcelorMittal doubled its fourth-quarter output cut to 30 per cent in early November, reflecting a drop in demand brought on by the global financial crisis. The move sent the price of its shares plunging.
The steelmaker employs about 35,500 workers in North America
