Portland Cement is set to temporarily close two of its eight plants in Spain, laying off, also temporarily, around 500 staff which represents 16.6% of its workforce.
The move is part of a restructuring plan devised by the company to rationalise its Spanish operations following the decline in sales of cement due to the financial crisis. According to the company, if they continue the rest of 2012 in the same manner as the first two months of the year they will end up with sales of around 16 million tons. This compares to 56 million tons during the boom year of 2006.
Portland Cement is trying to strengthen its balance sheet and reduce its debt from €1,300 million to €300 million. Part of the plan depends upon the sale of its American subsidiary.