THE STEEL STORY
Page 44
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• UK steel production has been a bit like a roller coaster The best year in the last quarter of a century was 1979, when 21.5 million tonnes were produced. But the following year production feN to just 11.3 million tonnes. After that output climbed slowly, to reach about 18 million tonnes by the late 1980s, then fell back in the early 1990s, only to climb again, reaching 18.5 million tonnes in 1997, the highest figure since 1979.
Technical difficulties meant production fell the following year, and since then it has declined further.
Problems with the strong pound have led tea wave of redundancies from Corns, which came into being in October 1999 following a merger between British Steel and Dutch firm Hoogovens, and the future of the industry is uncertain.
Corns has already shut down one plant at Tinsley Park, Sheffield, but has pledged to spend £1.8m improving Brimsworth Strip Mills in nearby Rotherham.
However, industry pundits say the real test of whether Carus intends the UK to continue as a major steel producer will be whether it will invest 1.35m to reline the number three blast furnace at its Llanwern plant in South Wales. The company is expected to make this decision by the end of the month.