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Almost 2000 steelworkers on Teesside are poised to lose their jobs as Corus, Britain's biggest steelmaker, indicated today it is to mothball its Redcar plant.
Corus, the former British Steel now owned by Indian conglomerate Tata, said it had put its workers on notice because the plant has become “unviable”.
The company said an international consortium led by Italian firm Marcegaglia had reneged on major contracts to buy Redcar's output and on an agreement to take a stake in the plant.
Corus chief executive Kirby Adams damned the consortium's actions as “irresponsible”, adding: “Their unilateral termination of a legally binding 10-year contract could bring to an end a fine heritage of steelmaking at Teesside.”
This latest news pinpoints the reversal in fortunes of Tata since its raids on the British economy.
It is also the owner of Jaguar Land Rover, where 13,000 jobs are at risk as it and the government play a game of brinkmanship over a state bailout of one of the UK's biggest car manufacturers.
