More jobs axed at Corus as steel demand plunges

STEELMAKER Corus said yesterday it was planning to cut a further 366 jobs at its Scunthorpe plant, taking the total for the group to nearly 5,000 this year.

The news comes a week after the group axed 2,000 posts throughout the UK, as the recession leads to a slump in the demand for steel.

Corus said it needed to make “significant savings” to secure the future of the plant, but the Community union hit out at the steelmaker, saying the extra job losses added “insult to injury” for the workers.

In January, the company said 2,500 jobs at the company would go.

Last month, Tata Steel, the Indian parent of Corus, said full year profits at the company had slumped by 60 per cent to $973m (£600m), as the downturn hit the industry.

The Scunthorpe plant is part of Tata’s long products division that makes sections, wire rods and plates, used mostly in construction.