The Wilmington, Del., chemicals company said it will close six Herberts plants in Europe and Latin America as it consolidates operations with other plants in those regions. The plants to be closed are located in Caieiras, Brazil; Piobesi, Italy; Dagenham, England; Ocoyoacac, Mexico; Porto, Portugal; and Saffle, Sweden. DuPont's March acquisition of Herberts made it one of the world's largest makers of industrial and automotive paints and coatings. The job reductions will leave the business, which has about $3.8 billion in annual sales, with 40 plants and 13,700 employees world-wide.

About 500 of the job cuts will come from manufacturing, with the rest in service, marketing and administration. About 75 per cent of the cuts will occur in Europe, said Edward Donnelly, vice president of DuPont's paints and coatingsbusiness.

Donnelly said the consolidation is expected to produce $100 million in annual cost savings starting next year. DuPont said it will take no special charges to 1999 earnings for costs related to the restructuring, which will be included in the purchase accounting for Herberts.