Salzgitter and Corus Strip Products IJmuiden have been working together on identifying opportunities for the application of coatings containing Zinc, Magnesium and Aluminium in selected market sectors.

Salzgitter and Corus now announce that they have formalised their efforts into a joint product development co-operation in the area of metallic coatings with outstanding corrosion performance. The corrosion performance of these steels is superior to conventional metallic coatings.

In this co-operation both companies share complementary R&D expertise to develop and optimise these products.

The new coating will be developed for a variety of applications, including applications in the building and construction sector, where the market traditionally uses zinc weights of 275 g/m2, and to applications with higher corrosion requirements in the Automotive and Domestic Appliances sector.   Timing and availability of products and applications will be included in progress updates that will be provided during 2008.

ENDS

Corus is Europe's second largest steel producer with annual revenues of over £10 billion and a 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, the world's sixth largest steel producer. With the recent acquisition of Corus, the combined enterprise has an aggregate crude steel production capacity of around 28.1 million tonnes with approximately 82,700 employees across the four continents.

Media enquiries:

Annanya Sarin, Corus Corporate Relations: Tel: +44 207 717 4532
Dick Schiethart: Corus Strip Products, IJmuiden: Tel: +31 (0)251 492111