Corus ripples at port.

Byline: JEZ DAVISON

PD Ports today said it was assessing how the potential closure of Corus' Teesside Cast Products (TCP) plant at Redcar would impact on its business.

The Teesport operator, which was put on the market earlier this year, is seeking to meet Corus chiefs "at the first available opportunity" so it can carry out an impact assessment on the business.

Annually Corus exports more than 2 million tonnes of steel slab from Teesside after PD Ports invested pounds 2m in a rail link from the TCP plant to Teesport.

A year ago TCP become the world's leading exporter of slab steel after sending 2.4 million tonnes out into the global market in 2007.

PD Ports said it was difficult to say how revenues would be affected if the plant was mothballed.

Martyn Pellew, PD Ports' development director, said: "It's (Corus announcement) obviously sad news for the area and not good news for us, but we will have to wait and see what impact it will have on us.

"We are waiting for confirmation from Corus.

"We need to meet with them at the first available opportunity." On Friday it was announced that four members of the consortium that signed a ten-year deal with TCP in 2004 had walked out on the agreement.

TCP relied on the consortium - made up of Marcegaglia, Dongkuk, Duferco, Ternium and Corus itself - for 100% of its throughput.

More than 2,000 local jobs are at risk as well as thousands of others across related supply chains.

PD Ports is expected to announce a drop in volumes of around 10%, in line with the general decline in containerised shipping, when new figures are released soon.

Year-on-year earnings at the port were 9% down in March, according to parent Babcock & Brown Infrastructure.

Last week, ratings agency Fitch moved its rating on bonds issued on behalf of the port by THPA Finance Ltd from stable to negative territory, reflecting continuing turmoil in the sector..

CORUS owner Tata Steel UK is negotiating more favourable terms on pounds 3bn of loans as it struggles against the European steel downturn, reports say this morning.

In exchange for an easing of its covenants, Tata would prepay more than pounds 200m in debt to deleverage its European operations, it is understood. The Indian based steel producer bought Corus in 2007 for around $13bn - believed to be one of the biggest overseas deals in India's corporate history..