On August 11, UK-based steelmaker Corus, the European subsidiary of the Indian steel giant Tata Steel, announced that it will invest £8 million at its Scottish steel plant to help meet demand for heavy plate products.
The investment at the company's Dalzell steel mill, in Motherwell, includes installition of a new 3,500-ton press and handling equipment, as well as an upgrade to the plant's existing press and other manufacturing equipment.
Corus is also recruiting 60 workers - 11 in Dalzell and 49 at its nearby Clydebridge plant - following an upturn in orders. Corus said that the new roles will be temporary, but may become permanent if market conditions continue to improve.
The £8 million investment will more than double the plant's capacity to produce heavy leveled plate which is used in many applications, including foundations for offshore wind turbines, power plant construction and heavy machinery, as well as in the oil and gas sector.
Colin Timmins, plant manager of the Dalzell and Clydebridge steelworks, said: "This is the largest investment in the Dalzell site for almost 40 years and will be welcomed by our workers, their families and the whole community."
"Steel demand is not back to what it was before the recession, but Corus has been working hard to target new markets and this investment in both people and equipment will help us to take advantage of the strengthening demand we are seeing in a number of sectors," Timmins added.
The recruitment at Dalzell and Clydebridge, which is already underway, follows an upturn in orders for some of the plants' specialist steel products, including in the oil and gas, power generation, mining, and construction sectors.
"The UK Government has approved ambitious plans to build thousands of wind turbines at sea over the next 10 years. They will be able to generate 35 gigawatts of electricity - around 15 percent of the UK's energy requirements. Similar developments are taking place in other European countries. These developments present us with a massive opportunity. In the UK alone, we estimate that about six million metric tons of steel will be needed over the next 10 years to make the foundations and tower structures for offshore wind turbines," Mr. Timmins concluded.