Following the reorganisation of its distribution business, Tata Steel's Corus has extended the initiative to its tubes business, putting at risk 146 jobs.
A statement said the company had decided to cut satff levels at each of Corus Tubes' principal establishments in the UK and the Netherlands, employing around 2,200 people.
A total of 146 jobs would be at risk - 56 at Corby, 49 at Hartlepool and 41 in the Netherlands.
Nick Clarke, acting managing director, Corus Tubes, said, "It is regrettable that we need to propose redundancies. However, we need to make these changes to strengthen our business and address the challenging market conditions.
Our priority is to keep all our employees up to date with the changes and help them and their families through this difficult time."
Corus Tubes is a business unit of Corus and manufactures steel tubes for applications such as construction, automotive, mechanical engineering and building services. On November 28, the business unit started consulting its employees and their trade union representatives.
The company statement added that Corus Tubes was committed to find ways to limit the redundancies and reduce their potential consequences.
Last month, Corus decided to cut 400 jobs in its distribution business in the wake of the global economic meltdown. The job cuts in the distribution unit were for the UK and Ireland operations, where the company employs 2,400 people across 36 sites.
The job cuts in the distribution business was the first layoff announced by the company after it was acquired by Tata Steel in January 2007.
Industry observers said that the global meltdown had led to most of the companies operating in the international markets to announce job cuts.
The slowdown had taken a toll on the demand for steel, resulting in a price crash. For instance, hot rolled coil prices have come down from $1,250 a tonne in July to $600-650 currently.
