Rockwood Holdings plans to ultimately trim 893 jobs - or 9% of its workforce - as it continues its cost-cutting measures. The austerity measures include a global freeze on all salaries for 2009, salary reductions in some business segments, fewer capital expenditures, some travel budget restrictions and other steps begun last year. Although Ghasemi did not offer a timetable, he said the measures were expected to save the company $150m (€119m). Among its core markets, Rockwood said lithium demand from the pharmaceuticals industry was stable and that a falloff in consumer electronics demand would be counterbalanced by growing demand for lithium batteries in products such as hand tools and cell phones. Ghasemi said Rockwood's titanium dioxide (TiO2) business was hurt by the decline in US construction markets, but that the company maintained profit margins of 15% - better, he said, than most of its competitors. He said TiO2 prices have stabilised partly in response to the strengthening value of the US dollar. While Rockwood's goal is to achieve profit margins of at least 20% in TiO2, he expected a flat performance in 2009.