«2000 2001 2002 »

Following an operating loss of over £300m in the nine months to 1st July 2000, Corus announces a reduction of over 3m.tonnes of iron and steelmaking capacity in the UK flat products business together with the closure of certain mills and process lines. The changes to plant configuration include the closure of the pickle line and five-stand cold reduction mill and the No.2 electro galv.line at Shotton and site closure of Bryngwyn. The annealing and tempering facilities in Shotton’s Cold Strip Mill Department, mothballed in autumn 2000, are also to be closed down.

The closure of the five-stand cold reduction mill during 2001 brings rolling operations to an end after 105 years. The mill was the first computerised production unit be installed at the works( 1974) and rolled 18m. tonnes of hot rolled strip during its 27 years in operation. It was designed to roll 20K tonnes of strip a week but production peaked at 26K tonnes during the 1980s.The record annual output of 920K tonnes was recorded in 1988/89.

The outside coil storage area, pickle line, coil annealing furnaces and roll shop in the Cold Strip Mill Department are also closed, together with the No. 2 electro galv.line in the Coatings Two complex.

As a result of the closure of Bryngwyn and Ebbw Vale works in South Wales, a range of hot dip galvanised and organic coated products are taken on board by Shotton.

Electro galvanising operations cut back

The closure of the No. 2 electro galv. line involves the transfer of certain products to the No.3 electro galv.line in the Coatings Three complex.

The No. 5 hot dip galv. line at Shotton, designed to cold reduced strip up to 2mm gauge with up to 450 grams of zinc per square metre, is now applying thicker coatings to heavier gauge hot rolled material.

Twenty eight organic coated products, previously specific to Bryngwyn, each requiring a different combination of substrate, paint finish or emboss, have been added to the range of products to be produced on Shotton’s two Colorcoat ® lines.

A typical example is Tabstock material, a light gauge electro galvanised or tinplate substrate coated with a lacquer for forming into ring pulls for cans. Also new is the Colorcoat Celestia ® range of high performance metallic finish products for building cladding.