LUXEMBOURG, Nov 27: Steel-making giant ArcelorMittal said on Thursday that it might slash up to 9,000 jobs across the group worldwide through voluntary redundancies to cope with the economic slump.

The company, by far the biggest steelmaker in the world, said that the measures targeted sales and administrative employees not involved in making steel, and could potentially reach three per cent of its global workforce.

The group, facing pressure from Chinese imports according to a union representative, said the cuts were aimed at reducing costs by $1 billion “in response to the current economic situation”.

“This has been a very difficult decision for the company to take as all of our employees are extremely important to us,” executive vice president Bernard Fontana said.

“Sadly however the global economic reality means that it is only sensible to adopt such measures,” he added.

Although steel prices posted strong gains in the first half of the year, they have since crashed as demand has dried up as car makers slash production and construction projects are put on hold.

On Tuesday, the group said 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.

In the face of slumping demand for steel, the group earlier this month doubled previously announced production cuts in the last quarter of the year to 30 per cent from 15 per cent.

ArcelorMittal management called employee representatives into its Luxembourg headquarters for an emergency meeting to explain the cuts, the company said.—AFP