Akzo Nobel to cut 350 jobs

Dutch drugs and chemicals conglomerate Akzo Nobel today confirmed it would be cutting 350 jobs in response to falling demand at Diosynth, its pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturing unit.

The company said over-capacity in its chemical synthesis operations was triggered by falling customer demand for ingredients for drugs.

To counter this overcapacity Akzo will close a production site in Mexico City with the loss of 175 jobs and will scale back facilities in the Netherlands, with the Dutch workforce to be reduced by 100.The remaining 75 jobs will be lost in Scotland.

The move follows warnings earlier this month of possible restructuring, and comes after more than 4,000 job losses across the group in the past year.