Dutch specialty chemicals group DSM is cutting up to 1,100 jobs, of which half will go in the Netherlands, the company said on Tuesday.

The aim is to save up to €150m by the end of 2017, the company said in a statement. Most of the jobs will go in support services such as the company’s finance, personnel, legal and IT departments.

DSM had said at the publication of its first half figures in July that jobs were on the line. In particular, the group’s vitamin activities are under pressure from lower prices and increasing competition from China. Prices for vitamins have plunged by some 30%.

‘We need to adapt our organisational and operating model to service our customers even better,’ chief executive Feike Sijbesma said in the statement. ‘With the adjustments announced today, we will become more agile, focused and cost-efficient.’

The company has a global workforce of nearly 21,000, of whom 4,300 work in the Netherlands. DSM focuses its activities on two divisions – Nutrition and Performance Materials. It produces vitamins, specialty foods for the healthcare sector, animal feed and special plastics.

More information about an ‘efficiency programme’ at the Nutrition department will follow in November, the company said.