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Buy-out deal hope for troubled Corus plants
LOCAL business chiefs could be prepared to take over Corus's troubled South Yorkshire engineering steels plants if Indian steel maker Tata decides to pull out, says Master Cutler Martin Howell.
And the former Corus executive, whose first job at a steel plant was in Stocksbridge, says the works there could start melting steel again, if ever a deal was clinched.
Speaking in the wake of job cuts announced last week, which reduce the workforce in Rotherham and Stocksbridge to just over 1,000, compared with 6,000 a decade ago, Mr Howell said he thought production at the company's South Yorkshire plants was "almost at the point of no return".
"The question has to be asked whether that is cutting to the bone or cutting into the bone. It's not a precise science," said the Master Cutler.
"Who knows what the future holds for them, but, the important message is that, if Tata decides it is not a business for them, I would hope that they would… explore ways in which the business could continue under different ownership.
"I think there are other solutions which would be South Yorkshire based. I would like to think they would come to talk to people like the Cutlers' Company. I am sure we could put people together who could
look for a potential solution."
Mr Howell believes Corus Engineering Steels could be a sell-off target because big general steelmakers like British Steel, Corus and Tata find the small and targeted South Yorkshire engineering steels business difficult to understand.
Stocksbridge, with its focus on aerospace steels and highly flexible mill, would be the jewel in the crown of what could effectively be
the resurrection of the pre-1967 nationalisation United Steels.
But the big issue would be where the plant would melt its steel.
Mr Howell suggests the current Corus Engineering Steels plant in Rotherham or, failing that, melting shops at Sheffield Forgemasters or Outokumpu could supply steel for Stocksbridge.
But Mr Howell, who played a key part in the multi-million pound Stainless Melting and Continuous Casting development at what is now Outokumpu's Shepcote Lane plant, also holds out the tempting prospect of resurrecting steel melting at Stocksbridge.
He says the plant has a number of attractions.
Stocksbridge has clearly defined markets - focused on aerospace, rather than the less secure automotive market that is a significant part
of the Rotherham plant's business. It also has a mill that is more flexible than most in Western Europe.
The Master Cutler emphasises he has had no contact with Tata about
the future of its South Yorkshire engineering steels plants, but his views on what might happen proved highly accurate when Corus restructured its engineering steels operations in January.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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