Corus to shut UK plant

The British Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown, on Thursday confirmed that some potential buyers were interested in buying the Tata Steelowned Teesside Cast Products site at Redcar in northern England. However, the partial mothballing of the plant by Corus will begin from Friday. Mr Brown, who held a Cabinet meeting at Durham on Thursday, said: “A lot of work is being done behind the scenes. Mothballing will unfortunately have to go ahead.” Business secretary Lord Mandelson visited the plant on Thursday morning and announced funding totalling £3.8 million for apprentices at Corus and businesses in the Tees Valley. 

The Middlesbrough mayor, Mr Ray Mallon and the Middles-brough Football Club chairman, Mr Steve Gibson, had in a joint statement said earlier that a “credible” consortium was interested in buying the plant. “I do not want to raise false hope and there is a long way to go before any deal would be complete, but this is a deal worth investigating. 

Both myself and Mr Steve Gibson will continue to do all we can to save steel jobs in the area until we are satisfied that no more can be done,” Mr Mallon said. Corus made it clear that it was not permanently closing the Redcar plant, which will be kept ready for a restart. “There has been speculation about potential last-minute bidders for the plant. Corus position remains unchanged. 

This is a mothballing, not a permanent closure. TCP will be kept ready for a restart. Corus remains open to credible offers for TCP,” a spokesperson said. The Teesside plant will be mothballed after “the consumption of the remaining iron ore stockpiles.