Steel group Corus says it will lay off 4,000 workers over the next two years, mainly in Britain, as part of 10,000 job losses announced since British Steel joined forces with Dutch group Hoogovens in 1999.
Reporting full-year results today, the company said it had halved its loss as it pressed ahead with plant closures and job cuts to counter weak prices and tough markets, made harder by US steel tariffs.
The loss after tax was £419 million sterling against £889 million a year before. Corus shares rose 2.3 per cent.
The results come days after US President George W Bush decided to slap tariffs of up to 30 per cent on steel imports to protect US suppliers.
The British steel industry fears these tariffs will make emerging market producers like Turkey and Russia dump cheap steel destined for North America in Britain, knocking down prices and hurting local suppliers like Corus.