Corus may shut UK mill, 1.9k jobs on the line
London: Steel maker Corus’s Teesside mill in England faces the danger of closure—which if happens would render its more than 1,900 employees jobless—as a consortium of buyers has dishonoured a long-term agreement to buy about 80% of produce of the Anglo-Dutch company. “The unilateral termination of a legally binding 10-year contract could bring to an end a fine heritage of steel making at Teesside. We regret the distress their action will cause TCP’s dedicated employees,” Corus CEO Kriby Adams said on Friday. The Anglo-Dutch steel maker said it has initiated talks with the employees and representatives of the steel mill to mitigate the impact of “mothballing the plant” on its 1,920 workers. “Corus regrets to announce that it has been forced to open consultations that might result in a decision to mothball its Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant in northeast England. ...Any decision to mothball is likely to lead to a very significant number of redundancies,” the company said. A consortium of buyers had entered into an an offtake framework agreement in 2004 with Corus “to buy just under 78% of the plant’s (Teeside) production for 10 years.” The consortium comprising Italy-based Marcegaglia, Korean firm Dongkuk Steel, and others like Duferco Participations Holdings and Alvory SA “so far...have benefited tremendously (from the contract),” it added. “Despite this, last month the consortium unilaterally and unreasonably initiated moves to terminate the contract, thereby making the TCP operation unviable,” the company said. It, however, added that Corus is using “all legal means” to make sure that the contractual obligations are enforced. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""GLOBAL SPECULATORS"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalspeculators?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
