Caterpillar plans to cut 1,400 jobs in Belgium

Caterpillar Inc , the world's largest maker of construction equipment, plans to cut 1,400 jobs at a plant near Charleroi in Belgium, the group's Belgian unit said on Thursday.

The cuts will come at the Gosselies site just outside of Charleroi, one of the largest Caterpillar facilities in Europe. The site employs 3,700 people.

"We have just announced a new industrial plan, and if that plan is approved, 1,400 jobs will be lost," a spokesman for Caterpillar in Gosselies said.

At Gosselies, Caterpillar makes hydraulic excavators, loading vehicles and engine parts.

(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Philip Blenkinsop and Hans-Juergen Peters)