Tory chief says much expected of Tata's Corus

Conservative party head David Cameron has said Corus and British steel industry should be "at the heart of our economy." In an interview to a regional paper, Scunthorpe Telegraph, Cameron said any form of government subsidy or protection for the industry is not the right answer. "Corus is a great British company, employing many thousands of people in our country," he told the Telegraph. "We want a strong British steel industry, it should be at the heart of our economy and as we look for recovery in the economy and recovery in things like construction, housing, commercial property, the car industry, clearly steel making is a very important part of the whole process."

Tata Steel-owned Corus has been among the many global steel makers battling the problem of shrinking demand for its products due to the current global recession. Corus has also been under tremendous pressure to keep its plants in the northeast running, after a consortium of buyers withdrew prematurely from a 10-year buying contract earlier this year. The company has not shut any plant but had threatened to mothball one,. if the situation got worse. Recent improvements in the order book has allowed the company to keep this plant open till December this year.