Corus Announces Plans to Sell Aluminum Division

Corus, one of the largest steel companies in the world, announced plans to sell its aluminum businesses. Corus, formed in 1999 through the merger of British Steel and Koninklijke Hoogovens, also recently reported a significant fiscal year loss of around $750 million as one reason for the decision to sell off its aluminum business.

Tony Pedder, Corus’ CEO, said, “Last year was a challenging one for Corus and particularly so for our UK carbon steel operations. We have progressed well with the necessary restructuring of our UK assets and the measures taken put us in better shape to benefit from any improved market environment which some forecasters predict may be evident in the second half of 2002.

Our decision to commence the process towards sale of our aluminum businesses is based on our recognition that while we have very good aluminum businesses, the pace of change in the industry is leaving us with fewer options to pursue a growth strategy in competition with increasingly strong industry leaders.'

Corus is currently the fifth largest producer of downstream aluminum rolled and extrusion products globally. Its aluminum businesses account for around 14 percent of Corus sales.

Corus has three aluminum businesses:

Corus Primary Aluminium operates two smelters in Europe – at Delfzijl in the Netherlands and Voerde in Germany. It also has a 20 percent stake in the Alouette smelter at Sept Iles in Canada. Primary aluminum production covers about 50 per cent of Corus’ downstream needs, producing around 250,000 metric tons a year.

Corus Aluminium Rolled Products consists of rolling mills at Koblenz, Germany and at Duffel in Belgium, together with a 60 percent interest in Corus LP (Canada) at Cap-de-la-Madeleine. Key markets include the aircraft, automotive, heat exchanger, shipbuilding, engineering and construction sectors.

Corus Aluminium Extrusions has plants in Vogt, Bonn and Bitterfeld in Germany; Duffel in Belgium and a 61 per cent interest in a joint venture with Tianjin Non-Ferrous Metal Group, China. Key markets include construction, transport and engineering.