The purpose of the meeting was to get the offtakers to respect the contract with Corus that they unilaterally terminated on 7 April 2009, or to find some other solution that provided a sustainable future for TCP. Corus presented a number of options by which this could be achieved. Unfortunately it was clear from the meeting that the consortium is unable to guarantee long-term offtake in sufficient volume, and that Corus needs to pursue other solutions.

Since receiving the termination notice, Corus has been investigating options to keep the plant open. In order to maintain operations while it negotiated with the consortium and with other potential slab buyers, Corus has been loading the plant with internal orders. Corus has succeeded in stretching TCP’s orderbook until the end of August. The company is also generating external enquiries for TCP’s high-quality slab products and it is likely that the September orderbook will be filled in the next few days.

Only since the middle of June has Corus been free to explore alternative transactions that might lead to an acquisition of TCP. However, the extended orderbook will give extra time for the company to pursue a long-term solution for the business.

Kirby Adams, Corus CEO, said: “We feel great sympathy with our employees and the Redcar community because of the continuing anxiety they are experiencing about their future due to the consortium’s termination of the offtake agreement without notice. We have kept the plant going for 100 days without any external business and continue to do everything in our power to keep TCP in operation despite the consortium’s breach of contract and the economic downturn.”

Ends

For further information please contact:

Corus Group   
Bob Jones 020 7717 4532

Brunswick Group   
Kevin Byram 07974 982352 
David Litterick 07974 982455

Notes to Editors:

1. The offtake consortium includes Marcegaglia SpA, Dongkuk Steel Mills Co Ltd, Duferco Participations Holding Ltd (through Steel Invest Trading SA) and Ternium Procurement SA
2. The offtake agreement came into effect in January 2005 and is not due to expire till the end of 2014
3. Marcegaglia and Dongkuk signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding to buy TCP in January 2009. They relinquished their exclusivity under the MoU last month
4. TCP employs 1,940 people

Notes

Corus is Europe's second largest steel producer.  With main steelmaking operations primarily in the UK and the Netherlands, Corus supplies steel and related services 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 in 2007, the combined enterprise has an aggregate crude steel capacity of more than 28 million tonnes and approximately 80,000 employees across four continents.