ArcelorMitta to shutdown one steel plant in Romania

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis　

BUCHAREST, Nov. 11 (Chinese media) -- Steelmaker ArcelorMittal Hunedoara will close its Hunedoara plant for approximately two months because of the current economic crisis, the company said Tuesday.

"The plant will cease its production in the next days. The last time this plant stopped its production was in the '30s when the economy was hit by a major crisis," said general manager Remus Patan.

ArcelorMittal, the world's leading steel company, last week said it would cut production 30 percent in the fourth quarter as a result of the gloomy international economic conditions.

Patan said the Hunedoara plant will not be shut down and that production might resume next January with a possible increase in production in the second quarter, depending on global markets.

"At the moment, we do not have a minimum number of orders," Patan said.

The shutdown will not affect the staff, trade union leader Petru Vaidos said Tuesday.

He added that company employees will take vacation in November and December and will be paid 75 percent of their wages.

The UK-based giant ArcelorMittal owns four steel plants, a harbor operator and a construction company in Romania.

ArcelorMittal's Galati plant, Romania's largest steel mill, also said last week it will reduce production and postpone investments.