Corus announce £8m investment at Dalzell and Clydebridge

Aug 12 2010 Hamilton Advertiser

AFTER decades of steady decline, there was this week fresh hope for the steel industry in Lanarkshire.

Corus yesterday (Wednesday) announced plans to invest £8m at their Dalzell plant in Motherwell.

The money will be used to install a new 3500-tonne press and handling equipment, and upgrade the plant’s existing press and other manufacturing equipment.

Corus are also to recruit 60 workers; 11 for Dalzell and 49 at their Clydebridge plant in Cambuslang.

The investment and jobs boost follows an upturn in orders and moves by the company to cash in the sustainable energy market.

Corus say the new posts will be temporary but may become permanent if market conditions continue to improve.

The £8m investment will more than double the plant’s capacity to produce heavy levelled plate which is used in many applications, including foundations for offshore wind turbines, power plant construction and heavy machinery, as well as in the oil and gas sector.

Colin Timmins, plant manager at Dalzell and Clydebridge steelworks, said: “This is the largest investment in the Dalzell site for almost 40 years and will be welcomed by our workers, their families and the whole community.

“It will open up new opportunities for us and improve our capability in a number of markets which, combined with our skilled workforce, puts us in the best position for the future.

“The economic conditions affecting the steel industry last year were extremely tough and we had to make some difficult decisions.

“Steel demand is not back to what it was before the recession but Corus have been working hard to target new markets and this investment in both people and equipment will help us to take advantage of the strengthening demand in a number of sectors.”

Recruitment of staff for the new posts is already underway.

Corus say the upturn in orders was for some of the plants’ specialist steel products, including material for the oil and gas, power generation, mining, and construction sectors.

Corus expects to further strengthen their Dalzell workforce when the new 3,500-tonne flattening press is commissioned in summer 2011.

The recruitment follows the hiring of 12 engineering apprentices at the two plants over the last two years - the first apprentices in a generation.

Chris Elliot, Corus Director of Product Marketing, said the £8m investment would enable the company to improve its steel-making capability in a number of markets.

He added: “The UK Government has approved ambitious plans to build thousands of wind turbines at sea over the next 10 years. They will be able to generate 35 gigawatts of electricity, around 15 per cent of the UK’s energy requirements. Similar developments are taking place in Europe.

“These developments present us with a massive opportunity. In the UK alone, we estimate that about six million tonnes of steel will be needed over the next 10 years to make the foundations and tower structures for offshore wind turbines.”

Engineers from Corus Process Engineering, in Workington, Cumbria, will be manufacturing handling equipment for the Dalzell plant and managing the installation of the new flattening press.

Michael Leahy, general secretary of the union Community, who represent the majority of Corus employees, said: “We are delighted that Corus are investing in Dalzell’s future. The potential for new permanent employment is encouraging but it will also give our members working on site today renewed confidence.

“Corus Dalzell is already a supplier to the renewable energy industry and with this investment that essential work should continue.”