Helsinki, Finland- As part of integrating Svedala's business units into its Metso Minerals division, Metso Corp. reported Oct. 4 that it is selling or closing 12 production units, mainly in North America. Of these, nine were already sold or closed at the end of September 2002, and the rest will be concluded by the end of the year.

Metso reports these moves are forcing it to reduce its employees by about 1,800 from the beginning of the integration process to the end of 2002. Metso Minerals' personnel totaled 11,040 at the end of June 2002.

Metso acquired Svedala in September 2001, and reported one-time costs of the integration and restructuring will be approximately 70 million euros. The firm also recently projected that its savings will likely increase to more than 90 million euros per year from 70 million during 2003.