Eastman Kodak to cut jobs after losses in China

Eastman Kodak Co. announced on Thursday that it will close two facilities in the US and cut output at a film plant in China due to the decline in film photography in China.

The closures will cost Kodak around $181 million dollars and eliminate nearly 1000 jobs. These measures are part of a previously announced and then expanded program that will eventually see around 25,000 jobs cut.

The company has said that it thinks the traditional photography market in China has passed its peak, even though last year it said that it was planning of paying for the transition to digital photography through film sales in places like China, India, and Brazil, emerging markets that would be active for many years.

In July, however, Kodak predicted that film sales would fall by as much as 27 percent this year, altering its previous projection of film sales decline of 20 percent on the year. At the time it released the new projection, Kodak said that it would not issue any further projections of this kind.

By mid-day, the announcement had sent shares in Kodak up by 7 cents to $25.11 on the New York Stock Exchange. The value of the company’s shares have fallen by 22 percent this year.

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