«1999 2000 2001 »

A new millennium dawns with the fortunes of Shotton still in the ascendancy. Corus Colors is one of 23 business units in the new Corus organisation and comprises eight sites – Shotton, Bryngwyn, Coated Metals, Cookley, Firsteel and Tafarnaubach in the UK, Myriad at Maubeuge in northern France and Imjuiden in the Netherlands. Together they are expected to deliver 1.7 million tonnes of finished coated products in 2000 including one million tonnes of paint coated or plastic laminated metal for which there is a “relatively strong demand.” ( Source: The first issue of Corus Colors Update house magazine).

With demand for coated products forecast to continue to rise, the annual capacity of the no.6 hot dip galvanising line in Coatings Two increases to 287K tonnes as part of a £3.5 million development scheme. Previous enhancements were in 1989 and 1996.

During the enhancement in 1989, a galvannealing furnace in which the zinc coating and iron in the steel strip substrate form an alloy, was installed and the latest scheme increases the line’s galvannealing capacity to around 177K tonnes.

The galvannealing equipment was also upgraded in 1996 as part of a £9.9 million development scheme which increased the line’s capability to produce galvanneal and smooth zinc coated strip for vehicle body parts. The line’s other product, Galfan had been produced on the line since 1998 for use mainly as a substrate for Colorcoat HPS200 ®, the new generation of painted material.

In February 2000, a new weekly record of 9,338 tonnes is set on the No. 6 hot dip galvanizing line. The new rated weekly capacity is 8,000 tonnes.

A new Colorcoat ® product design service is launched to enable architects and specifiers to select the colour for a building clad with Colorcoat HPS200® using the Internet. The Repertoire ® colour matching service, launched in October 2000, dramatically increases the number of Confidex ® guaranteed colours available in the Colorcoat HPS200 ® range.