Siemens to do without one in five suppliers-paper

FRANKFURT, March 30 (Reuters) - Siemens (SIEGn.DE) plans to cut business relations with 20 percent of its suppliers this year to gain flexibility in procurement, a top executive at the engineering conglomerate told a German newspaper.

The move comes after Siemens started coordinating its procurement activities centrally, the company's head of procurement Barbara Kux told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an interview provided to Reuters before publication on Tuesday.

Germany's Siemens also plans to demand lower prices from its suppliers, in part because the volumes per order have increased, Kux added. (Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by David Cowell)