Indian-owned steel giant Corus is cutting 3,500 jobs, primarily in Britain and in the Netherlands, in a move accelerated by the global economic downturn, the company said in London on January 26. Corus, a subsidiary of India’s Tata Steel, said that 2,500 of the jobs would be shed at plants in England and Wales, and the bulk of the remaining 1,000 would go at sites in the Netherlands. Corus was formed in 1999 through the merger of British Steel and Koninklijke Hoogovens and bought by India’s Tata group in 2007 for GBP seven billion (7.2 billion Euro).

Corus employs 24,000 people in Britain, and 42,000 worldwide. It is Europe’s second largest steel producer with annual revenues of GBP 12 billion and an annual production of 20 million tonnes of crude steel. Its new Chief Executive, Philippe Varin, said the job cuts had been “carefully considered” and were “essential for the future of the business.” The firm said the restructuring should bring annual improvements in operating profit of more than GBP 200 million. In addition, a series of measures introduced at the end of 2008 were expected to yield about GBP 600 million (646.2 million Euro) in cash benefits to the end of March.

British trade unions described the announcement as a “body blow” for manufacturing and said they would not accept any compulsory voluntary redundancies. “We understand that Corus do face difficulties but before this recession Corus had been making extremely healthy profits,” said Derek Simpson, joint leader of the Unite trade union.