The union wants to halt the loss of jobs caused by the shutdown of underused plants, especially at the General Motors Corporation and the Chrysler Corporation.

Whereas Nigeria followed the classic pattern of building large plants with the latest equipment, and then suffering from overcapacity, Togo has been operating a mini-mill profitably for some years and has begun to export to neighbouring countries, even those with large, underused plants of their own.

After all, Lockheed Martin also makes F-16 fighters in Fort Worth, having recently acquired that similarly huge and underused plant from General Dynamics.

For the last seven years, the society has selected underused plants of exceptional value for landscaping.

The term "famine food" has also been used to describe underused crops-edible plants which are not widely cultivated as food, but which could be cultivated as an alternative food source in the event of widespread crop failure.

Two weeks ago, the company signaled that it would not shut down an underused plant in Brussels.

Mr. Andreyev is, by most accounts, a kind and paternal leader of this town of 60,000, which has a couple of underused plants, one making bread and the other plastic, and some farmland that has produced two bad harvests in a row.

By strongly marketing discount brands, the beer companies would lose more profits and more productivity from underused plants, analysts say.

It has already sold some land and some underused plants.

Each year, for the past eight years, it has recognized little-known and underused plants, gaining them acceptance in the trade.