Iluka's managing director David Robb.
Mineral sands miner Iluka Resources will axe 135 jobs in Western Australia after cutting its forecast output this year due to weak demand for its products.
Iluka will cut its 2009 zircon production by 20% to 350,000 tonnes, and reduce the combined rutile/synthetic rutile output by about 10% to match short term demand estimates.
The production cut will result in the loss of 135 jobs from Iluka's WA operations, the company said.
"Iluka believes that, in the current environment, lower prices will not increase demand and the prudent course of action is to match current production to a lower estimate of forward demand," Iluka managing director David Robb said in a statement.
"It is now clear that demand recovery is taking longer than both Iluka and some of its key customers expected."
Iluka shares dropped 37 cents, or 9.66% to $3.46.
The mineral sands miner said lower cash inflows and continued capex spend on growth projects would result in 2009 debt to be about $150 million higher than the $350 million to $450 million previously indicated.
Iluka is the world's biggest zircon producer and operates mineral sands operations to the north and south of Perth in WA and in the Murray Basin of Victoria and New South Wales.
AAP
