Bayer To Cut Production Costs

German chemicals/pharmaceuticals major Bayer plans to reduce its production costs by 15%-20% over the next three to four years, according to the group's management board chairman Manfred Schneider.

The cuts would result in annual savings of between 1.3 billion and 1.8 billion Deutschemarks ($867.5 million-1.20 billion), and would also include a 10% reduction in management over the next few years. Mr Schneider also said that Bayer plans to invest more than 1 billion marks in the Far East by the end of this century.