Around 90 jobs are to go at a huge Bradford chemical plant as part of a multi-million-pound programme to make it more cost-effective.

Ciba Bradford plant director Rodney Swailes today confirmed that the positions would be lost by the middle of next year as the Swiss-owned company committed to investing a share of £12 million at the Low Moor site.

Consultation has begun with the GMB union over the details of the move which is likely to involve a mix of redundancies and natural wastage.

Mr Swailes said staff involved had been aware of the changes for around two years and the company, which employs 1,175 people in Bradford, had been left with little choice.

He said the new plant and machinery the company was investing in necessitated a reduction in the head count.

About 56 jobs were lost during 2003, but these were achieved through natural wastage. "It is part of modernisation and restructuring," said Mr Swailes.

"It is something we just have to do. This is not a dramatic slashing of jobs because the company is doing badly. We are working with the union to find an effective way of doing this."

Ciba had a disappointing end to 2003 and early part of 2004. But the chemical giant said there had been a "noticeable improvement" in sales and income in the final part of the first quarter of the year. Mr Swailes said that trend had been reflected at Bradford where performance is highly dependent on the world economy with more than 80 per cent of output exported.

"The company has made a steady start to the year and the signs are that business is picking up," he said. "We are reasonably busy and are pushing ahead with our investment programme.

"Things are a bit better than at this time last year in terms of sales and profits and we are doing everything we can to maintain that. But the market is still very competitive."

Ciba chief executive officer Armin Meyer said: "We had a slow start to the year, however the trends we observed in March give us reason to believe we may be seeing the beginning of a recovery in the markets.

"We have started to see good growth in all our segments and in both the United states and parts of Europe. While it's too soon to call this a full recovery, recent signs are positive."