Corus boss in Teesside plant announcement to quit

Mr Adams will remain as an adviser to Tata Steel.

The steel industry boss who announced the mothballing of a major Corus plant on Teesside is leaving the company.

Kirby Adams will stand down in October. The American joined Corus, the European division of Indian steelmaker Tata, last year.

Teesside Cast Products (TCP) was partially mothballed in February, with the loss of 1,600 jobs.

Mr Adams will remain as an adviser to Tata. He will be replaced by chief operating officer Karl-Ulrich Kohler.

Mr Adams joined the firm at a time when it was reported to be losing about £100m a month.

It is now making a profit but the turn-around has come at the expense of 1,600 jobs on Teesside and thousands more across the UK.

The company blamed the demise of the Redcar site on falling global demand, decreasing prices, and an international consortium which pulled out of a 10-year deal to buy the plant's output.

Corus, which is reportedly still in talks with Thai steelmaker SSI about a possible deal for the facility, has come under fire from unions and local politicians for not doing more to help rescue the site.

The firm is the second largest steel producer in Europe. It was created in 1999 and employs about 20,000 people in the UK.