Slumping cigarette volumes and stricter regulations around the world prompted the roughly 800 redundancies planned mostly at Hauni Maschinenbau, said parent company Körber Group.

A Hauni spokesperson confirmed earlier reports that 500 redundancies are planned at the headquarters and central manufacturing site in Hamburg. About 100 jobs will be lost at a satellite facility outside the German port city in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. The remaining 200 positions to be cut are outside Germany.
Declines in established in western economies have spread to growth markets in Latin America and Asia, Körber said in a statement. Increased regulation and restrictions also have cause sharp declines in the massive Chinese market, the company said.
Buyers will be sought for two Körber subsidiaries, a unit of Baltic Metalltechnik that makes housing for tobacco machinery, and automation specialist Baltic Elektronik, the company said.
“We are reacting to radical changes in the market and creating a new business platform for the future”, said Hauni Chief Executive Officer Christopher Somm in the statement. “There will be no more significant growth in global cigarette sales volumes in the foreseeable future.”
Talks are underway with works councils, the spokesperson said. As many of the cuts as possible will be accomplished through attrition and voluntary separation.