Govt steps in to help Corus
By politics.co.uk staff
Corus will receive £5 million from the government after the steel giant announced plans to lay off nearly 2,000 employees.
A deterioration in demand across Europe and the United States was blamed for the decision to make the job cuts, affecting 500 workers in Scunthorpe, 375 in Teesside and up to 800 in Rotherham and Stocksbridge.
"Since last autumn, we have experienced a significant reduction in orders, particularly from the automotive and construction sectors, and we've already taken a number of steps to align our costs to this lower demand," Corus divisional director Phil Dryden said.
"There has been a more recent decline in some of our order books, however, and the latest market forecasts indicate that the recovery in demand will take much longer than previously anticipated."
Peter Mandelson spoke to Corus' chief executive Kirby Adams last week and offered £5 million in training support to secure jobs across Corus sites.
"During discussions with Corus they have said the critical measures the government can take are continued fiscal stimulus to support demand, particularly in construction and automotive," business minister Pat McFadden said.
"That is exactly what we are doing through government capital expenditure in construction, measures to assist automotive companies and the car scrappage scheme to boost demands for new vehicles."
Corus employs over 20,000 steel workers in Britain and has the capacity to produce over 13 million tonnes of steel a year.
