Praxair, Danbury, CT, will be laying off 1,600 employees and closing underperforming and non-core product lines and businesses in response to a substantial decline in demand for the fourth quarter. The company saw a fall-off in demand in November and is expecting additional customer plant closings in December.
 
We have moved quickly to take the necessary preemptive steps to make sure we have a cost structure appropriate to the current economic environment," CEO Steve Angel said. "The slowdown in commodity production and manufacturing has been unprecedented and we believe customers are reducing inventory down the supply chain."
 
The company expects new projects and new business applications to offset some of the slowdown in demand, with business beginning to return ...