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The April to September period is the most profitable half-year for the works on record. However, the prospects for the October-March period are the opposite with a substantially weakened order book and the prospect of extensive line outages.

Tata Steel Europe has been working with Australian photovoltaic specialists Dyesol on the feasibility of coating steel with solar cells since 2007 and several Dyesol personnel have been seconded to Shotton to work on the project. The aim is to produce sheet steel “sprayed” with solar cells for use as roofing for warehouses, offices and other buildings. The partners, supported by the Welsh Assembly Government, have invested £11 million on a Photovoltaic Accelerator Facility at Shotton, housing a coil-to-coil pilot line. The objective is to establish a product, process and supply chain that can be successfully commercialised. It will be the world’s first dye-sensitised photovoltaic product on steel. The project is scheduled to end in 2010.

Composite building panels development

A new £5 million line for the production of composite building panels is now in operation in the former Cold Strip Mill and despite the downturn in the construction sector, the Profiles business has already doubled its share of the UK market for composite panels. Metal Profil of Russia is currently the major export customer.

New main office

The General Office and Innovations Centre, formerly the East Block Canteen, close with affected Corus Colors personnel moving into the Operations Centre and refurbished Engineering block, now the main office.

There are now about 850 Corus employees on site, 550 being with the Corus Colors business and further 300 with Corus Living Solutions, now producing some 50 building modules a week.