Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Deutsche Post is to cut 9,500 jobs at DHL Express in the United States and will scale down its operations there.

Deutsche Post also said it would scrap domestic domestic operations by DHL Express in the US to focus entirely on its international business.

There are currently 18,000 workers in the express unit. Some 5,400 jobs have already been shed there since the start of the year.

Deutsche Post, Europe's biggest mail carrier, bought DHL in 2002. DHL's main US competitors are UPS and FedEx.

The cutbacks at DHL Express will cost about 3 billion euros ($US3.9 billion), but Deutsche Post said it should cut operating costs at the US business from $US5.4 billion to less than $US1 billion.