Aluminium producer Norsk Hydro to cut 750 white-collar jobs

OSLO (Reuters) -Aluminium producer Norsk Hydro will cut 750 white-collar jobs as part of a plan to reduce annual costs by 1 billion Norwegian crowns ($97.83 million), the company said in a statement on Thursday.

The Norwegian company in June announced a hiring freeze in response to geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions and economic volatility, and later said it would slash capital expenditure this year by 10% compared with original plans.

Cuts will hit staff and support functions, engineering, IT, supply chain and commercial jobs, while blue-collar workers were not affected, Hydro said in a statement.

Some 600 jobs will go by year-end and a further 150 later, the company said, adding it would also reduce travel and consultancy costs as part of the overall savings.

"We strengthen Hydro's resilience and position ourselves to compete and succeed in a world where geopolitical unpredictability accelerates volatility and creates new risks," CEO Eivind Kallevik said in the statement.

($1 = 10.2219 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)