AFP reported that about 9,000 Romanian coal miners were temporarily laid off Monday because of a fall in orders.

Mr Daniel Burlan chief of SNLO said that "This decision is a result of a rise in coal stockpiles, while industrial demand has plunged after slowing for several months.”

He added that the miners in the southern Oltenia region would receive 75% of their salaries for a month and then start work again on July 15th 2009.

But the company also plans to permanently do away with 600 positions, a measure affecting mainly those close to retirement age.

Union leader Mr Marin Condescu told AFP that "Deliveries of lignite began to fall in the fourth quarter in 2008 and dropped from 18.7 million tonnes last year to 15.2 million in 2009."

But Mr Condescu added he believed coal mining would continue in Romania "until at least 2025. This was in line with the government's energy strategy, he said, which anticipates the sector will continue to play an important role despite the development of alternative energy.

Behind the drop in demand was the closure or fall in activity of some major electricity consumers, mainly metal-producing factories.

(Sourced from AFP)