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To: puborectalis who wrote (22052)	1/6/2002 2:02:09 PM
From: Ibexx	Respond to of 24042

Corning to re-open 4 plants, not 2, according to its hometown newspaper: _______ Corning Inc. to recall fiber-optic workers By LARRY WILSON Star-Gazette Corning Bureau lwilson@stargazette.com CORNING -- Corning Inc. will resume production of optical fiber the week of Jan. 21 at its two largest plants -- those in Wilmington and Concord, N.C. Both plants were closed at the end of October because of high inventories and slumping demand for fiber. The news sent Corning stock soaring Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, where it closed up $1 at $10.70 in heavy trading. "We said in October we would bring them back up in the first part of 2002 and that's what we're doing," Corning spokesman Paul Rogoski said. "We've kind of burned through our inventory, as have our customers." The exact number of employees to be recalled has not been determined, Rogoski said. The Wilmington plant employed about 1,700 and the Concord plant about 800 before the shutdown. "This is going to be a ramp-up," Rogoski said. "Those were the employment levels before we eliminated 1,000 jobs in the fiber business." Corning Inc., the region's largest employer and the world's largest manufacturer of optical fiber for communications, eliminated 12,000 jobs last year from its worldwide work force of 43,000. Rogoski said the company isn't trying to signal a turnaround in the depressed optical networking market or a rebound in the demand for optical fiber. "People are dying for some positive news to come out of the telecom sector," Rogoski said. "Our concern is that people are going to get the wrong impression. It's just the way we're going about managing our manufacturing." Rogoski said there are no immediate plans to call back workers in other Corning Inc. businesses in addition to optical fiber. He said Corning isn't prepared to speculate on where the market for optical fiber is going. The company said in October that it didn't expect a significant recovery until late this year or in 2003. "We're just reacting to current customer demand," Rogoski said. "We'll adjust our manufacturing capability based on what the market demand is." Corning's optical-fiber plants in Neustadt, Germany, and in Noble Park in Victoria province, Australia, will likely resume production in the next month or two, Rogoski said. But Corning intends to shut down the fifth plant in Deeside, north Wales, which employs about 200 people. Of its $7.1 billion in revenues in 2000, nearly three-quarters came from sales of optical networking products. For the first nine months of 2001, Corning lost $4.8 billion, or $5.21 per share, compared with a profit of $480 million, or 57 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenues rose to $5.2 billion from $5.04 billion. In the fourth quarter, Corning projected sales would plunge to around $1 billion from $2.1 billion a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, it also anticipates reporting a loss ranging from 20 cents to 25 cents. Results were to be posted the week of Jan. 21. The Associated Press contributed to this report. ________ IMHO Corning spoke in a cautious tone for fear of additional law suits. Ibexx