2,000 jobs to go at Corus

A further blow to the economy comes as Britain’s largest steelmaker, Corus, is planning 3,500 job losses, with 2,000 in the UK.

The company, which is Europe’s second-largest steelmaker and the ninth largest in the world, was created 10 years ago from the merger of British Steel and Dutch firm Hoogovens. It has UK sites at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Teesside.

It became a subsidiary of India’s Tata Steel in 2007 and has a UK workforce of 24,000 and 42,000 worldwide. It produces 20 million tonnes of crude steel every year.

Corus, as with other steelmakers, is facing a severe downturn in demand and the news is a further blow to the beleaguered manufacturing sector.

Steel prices, which had been driven to record highs by strong demand from China, have fallen by half since last September.

The company has already announced measures to cut costs and has asked for financial help from the UK Government for a rolling programme of providing new skills to its entire workforce.

However, it is believed that this week’s priority for business secretary, Lord Mandelson, is financial aid for the car industry as there is speculation that Jaguar Land Rover is to announce 1,500 job losses.

Finally, there are reports that Toyota is looking to make redundancies at its UK operations.

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