In order to align its production levels with demand in the European market, Corus last month announced plans to reduce its third-quarter production (Oct-Dec 2008) by 1 million tonnes of crude steel, equivalent to 20% of its output.
Corus has now decided to extend the production cuts beyond December. Corus expects to produce about 30% less crude steel than planned during the two quarters to the end of March 2009.
Consequently Corus will temporarily idle one blast furnace at each of its Scunthorpe, IJmuiden and Port Talbot works and will also adjust output levels on its downstream production units to suit market conditions in their respective regions and end-use sectors.
“The current slowdown requires us to adapt our operations to the changing environment with maximum speed,” said Corus CEO Philippe Varin. “We are adopting proactive and responsible measures in the areas of production and costs to optimise our results. Meanwhile, our strategy for long-term growth remains unchanged.”
About Corus
Corus is Europe's second largest steel producer with annual revenues of more than £12 billion and annual crude steel production of about 20 million tonnes. With main steelmaking operations primarily in the UK and the Netherlands, Corus provides innovative solutions to the construction, automotive, packaging, mechanical engineering and other markets worldwide.
Corus is a subsidiary of Tata Steel, one of the world's top ten steel producers. Following the acquisition of Corus last year, the combined enterprise has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 30 million tonnes and approximately 82,700 employees across four continents.
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