UPDATE 1-Titan International posts Q3 loss

* Q3 loss $0.32/shr vs year-ago EPS $0.30

* Says business will start seeing slow growth

* Says inventory reduction is over

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Titan International Inc (TWI.N), which supplies tires and assemblies for off-highway vehicles, posted a third-quarter loss on weak demand and higher expenses, but said it expects 2010 to be a better year for its business.

Chief Executive Maurice Taylor said the third quarter was the bottom of the downtrend in the construction and farm markets.

"I believe inventory reduction is over and business will start to slowly grow during the next four quarters," Taylor said in a statement.

The company also said it extended scheduled shutdowns at production facilities to manage lower demand and bring down inventory levels.

For the third quarter, Titan posted a loss of $11.1 million, or 32 cents a share, compared with net income of $10.3 million, or 30 cents a share, a year ago.

Revenue fell 45 percent to $141.5 million.

Analysts were expecting a loss of 1 cent a share on revenue of $177.0 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of the company closed at $8.01 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by A.Ananthalakshmi in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)