Rio Tinto Alcan is shedding 350 jobs in France to reduce costs amid a structural reorganization to address a deteriorating competitive position.
The job losses will be spread among seven French locations. Initial efforts will be to reduce employment through voluntary departures.
Canada is unaffected by the move, the Montreal-based aluminum division of Rio Tinto said Tuesday.
Jean-Philippe Puig, primary metals president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said Rio Tinto Alcan's specialty and primary production in France are losing money because of the large drop in prices and demand for the metal.
"The exceptionally high level of world inventories don't allow us to foresee a significant improvement in the short-term," he said in a news release from Voreppe, France.
He said the global mining giant's French activities are particularly affected by a competitive structural deterioration across all of its locations, but particularly one in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne.
Previous measures taken at the start of the economic crisis to address the situation have been insufficient, he added.
Economic information related to the reorganization plan were presented Tuesday to the company's central union committees, ahead of several weeks of consultation.
Rio Tinto Alcan is the world's leading producer of aluminum. Its Canadian smelters are among the lowest cost in the world.