Corus invests in major developments for rail business

01 Jun 2004

As part of its UK restructuring programme and Restoring Success initiative, Corus is to invest £20m in its Scunthorpe Steelworks in North Lincolnshire. The objective is to focus existing capacity onto the most demanding product areas by increasing the capacity to produce the highest quality bloom grades, including those required for the rail and special section markets.

This £20m upgrade at Scunthorpe – is part of the £32m modernisation programme that was previously announced in April – increases rail bloom capacity to 500,000 tonnes a year and enables Scunthorpe to meet demand from the rail products business. Key elements of the scheme include the addition of a second degassing unit and a third ladle furnace. This will improve the availability and quality of rail produced at its rail mills in France and the UK to the benefit of customers around the world.

This continuing investment programme in UK rail steel manufacture demonstrates Corus’ commitment to maintaining its position as a world leader in the rail market.

Jon Bolton, Managing Director, Corus – Rail Sector said :

"This investment in Scunthorpe means that we can further improve on the availability and quality of bloom that we use to manufacture rail. More fundamentally, it demonstrates our continued commitment to supplying the worldwide rail industry with top quality products, demonstrating that Corus is committed to developing our leading position in rail."

Historically, the two Corus rail mills took bloom from separate sources - in the UK from Corus and in France from Sollac. From 2006, it is intended that all bloom will be supplied from Corus’ Scunthorpe Works.

This £20m investment is on top of the £8m Corus invested three years ago to upgrade the Scunthorpe bloom caster to produce best quality bloom for rail manufacture. The investment comprised a refurbishment of the existing bloom caster and installation of electro-magnetic stirring on the machine. During 2003, Scunthorpe bloom was adopted as the dominant feedstock for the Hayange mill with excellent results, including improved segregation and full conformance with all international specifications.