Brown gave the assurance to three MPs, Ashok Kumar, Solicitor General Vera Baird and Dar Taylor when they called on him at his home on the New Year’s eve.

Due to mounting losses last May Tata Steel Europe announced suspension of some of the facilities belonging to Corus’ Teesside Cast Products business in northeast England.

Ashok Kumar, who had worked with the British Steel for 14 years, said that many of his "constituents work at the Redcar plants in Teeside" and he was deeply attached to the threatened steel plants and employees whose jobs are at stake.

Baird, who is MP for Redcar where the plant is situated, said Brown had agreed to work behind the scenes to try to revive a deal with an international consortium to take over the plant by offering government help.

The collapse of the planned 10-year contract sparked the sudden announcement that the plant was to be mothballed, with Corus accusing the four firms of "walking away" from the deal.

Baird said Brown was "going to see if there is anyway to revive these purchasers by indicating through diplomatic channels that the government will help make that deal.

"Once he had something positive to suggest", she said, the Prime Minister had indicated that he would speak directly with Tata, the chairman of Corus’s parent company.

Baird, along with Kumar and Dari Taylor, warmly welcomed Brown’s promise of help but warned that time was running out to prevent the jobs being lost.

With existing contracts at an end, mothballing may happen this month unless a buyer is found, she said.

"I feel that we are leaving literally no stone unturned if we have the Prime Minister involved personally.

"Corus, which produces about 20 million tonnes of steel a year, accounts for more than two-thirds of Tata Steel’s production.

However, the global steel industry has been hit by a collapse in orders from the auto and construction sectors which have suffered during the economic downturn.

Corus has already cut about 6,000 jobs in Britain and the Netherlands since the start of 2009.

Although we have noted some minor downward corrections for flat products over the last month, market prices are starting to stabilise in most parts of the EU. The import threat from third country suppliers appears to have abated. The domestic mills would like to impose rises for the first quarter 2010 but the success of this initiative is not guaranteed as final consumption remains weak. Service centres are determined to keep their inventories down to match the reduction in demand. Inadequate credit insurance continues to be a major issue in many countries.

The UK market shows no improvement. If anything, consumption reduced during October/November but inventories are now at comfortable volumes. Companies are targeting to have as little stock as possible by the end of the year and, consequently, are unlikely to buy more unless the need is urgent. The distribution sector is particularly cut-throat at present, with many resale prices not based on replacement costs. There has been some downward correction on ex-mill basis values which is likely to continue into January and February due to the arrival of third country material, although the tonnages on order are not huge.

Read the full report here

The owners of Corus, Tata, have recently announced the closure of the Redcar steel plant, which will have a devastating effect on the workers and the economy of an already deprived area. Whilst the stated reason for the closure of the plant is a lack of demand for steel, the parent company is planning to double its steel production in India over the next three years as well as building a new plant in the Netherlands funded by European tax payers.

A further twist in the story, is that not only could Tata benefit in a saving on “carbon allowances” to the tune of £600M over the next three years, but India could gain by selling carbon allowances back to Europe under the carbon trading scheme. The net effect on carbon emissions will be absolutely minimal with steel production simply moving, and not reducing.

This would appear to be a financial model  to export jobs from Europe around the world, funded by Europe itself!

Please follow the link below and read the full article which makes fascinating if slightly disturbing reading. The number of comments by readers, which follow the article make for a good read in themselves.

What links the Copenhagen conference with the steelworks closing in Redcar? – Telegraph

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It had been announced in May that the 150-year-old Redcar plant was to be mothballed.

The plant had been at risk since a 10-year deal suddenly fell through.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson expressed his disappointment, saying it would be a "very difficult time for the workforce".

The deal that had fallen through was signed by an international consortium, led by Italian steel specialists Marcegaglia, in 2004, and committed the consortium to buy just under 78% of the Redcar plant’s production.

BBC North East business correspondent Ian Reeve said the factory would close by the end of January.

Corus said that 1,700 jobs would go, which is about 600 fewer than had been previously thought.

Full article at BBC News

The plant belongs to Anglo-Dutch steelmaker Corus, which Tata Steel acquired two years ago.

The plant had run into trouble early this year after a consortium of buyers, which had committed to buy nearly 80 per cent of the Teesside plant output, terminated the contract. The loss before interest, depreciation, taxes, amortisation (EBIDTA) on account of Teesside plant in the first half was $220 million.

The four buyers that had backed out were Italy-based Marcegaglia SpA, Korean firm Dongkuk Steel Mills Co Ltd, Brazil’s Duferco Participantions Holding Ltd and Alvory SA, a subsidiary of Latin American steelmaker Ternium.

The consortium had signed an Offtake Framework Agreement (OFA) in 2004 to buy 78 per cent of the plant’s production for 10 years. They terminated the agreement before the completion of the term.

Tata Steel has undertaken arbitration and legal proceedings against the companies.

Full story

“Raw steel output continues to climb steadily in the US. Mill utilisation rates were up to almost 65 percent in the first week of November. However, the recent relighting of blast furnaces has not coincided with a similar upturn in consumption. Oversupply could become a problem in the first quarter 2010. Service centres report that their sales have slowed markedly due to a lack of end-user demand, a situation they expect to continue for the remainder of this year. Consequently, their restocking phase has come to an abrupt end. As we anticipated in October, the steelmakers have started to offer discounts in order to solicit business, despite a lack of any real import competition.

The West European producers are currently facing low order intake as the flurry of activity in early September has tailed off now that distributors have restocked to appropriate levels. In many countries, prices have been lowered a little to encourage purchasing. Negotiations will start soon for first quarter 2010 business but no official announcements have been made yet, regarding the mills’ proposals. The threat of excess supply is still causing unease as the steelmakers expand production while demand from the key consuming sectors stays weak. As far as imports are concerned, more expensive Chinese offers are dampening interest from potential customers.”

Read the full Report here

Source: MEPS - European Steel Review

Corus, which had cut production capacity of its mills by as much as 50 per cent amid the demand slump last year, has currently revived the utilisation of its mills to 80 per cent.

"In October, the capacity utilisation had touched 80 per cent. It should be 85 per cent by the end of November and 100 per cent by the end of this financial year," Tata Steel

vice-chairman B Muthuraman said.

Corus produces about 20 million tonnes of steel per annum. "Demand is coming back in the west," he added.

Globally, steel producers have started reviving their production capacities with the rise in demand for their products. ArcelorMittal had revived the capacity utilisation