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2000 Corus jobs under threat on Teesside

Steel company Corus have announced that up to 2,000 jobs are under threat on Teesside and the plant could be mothballed after a purchasing deal from a main customer was abandoned.

Teeside Cast Products, in Redcar, which is owned by Corus, has a 10-year contract to supply slab steel to a consortium of four buyers.

However, the consortium, which buys 78% of the plant’s output, has now abandoned the deal, and Corus warned that substantial redundancies may now be necessary.

Corus, which is owned by India’s Tata Group, said that it had begun legal proceedings against Marcegaglia, Dongkuk Steel Mills, Duferco Participations Holding and Alvory in an attempt to force them to honour the deal.

The four buyers account for nearly four fifths of Teeside’s 3.5 million tonnes of steel production a year.

Corus warned today that if it were unsuccessful, it would have to mothball its 3,000-acre Teeside facility, and said: “Any decision to mothball is likely to lead to a very significant number of redundancies.”

The company said in a statement: “Corus regrets to announce that it has been forced to open consultations that might result in a decision to mothball its Teesside Cast Products plant in North East England.

“The company has today begun discussions with employees and their representatives about what can be done to mitigate the impact of mothballing the plant on the 1,920 TCP employees and what future action may be needed.”

Kirby Adams, chief executive of Corus, said: “I am extremely disappointed that the consortium members have seen fit to take this irresponsible action.

“Their unilateral termination of a legally binding 10-year contract could bring to an end a fine heritage of steelmaking at Teesside.

“We regret the distress their action will cause TCP’s dedicated employees, who have worked steadfastly in the interests of the consortium.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .